My Way
by Ashishu
Summary: Modern time Taki and Sophitia are penpals but don't know it and hate each other in real life. They have to learn to cope when they live together. Shoujoai in later chapters, get used to it.
1. Tribulations

Do not own SC characters. This is kind of an 'in-between fics' fic. I'm still carrying on A New Era, don't worry. This one is placed in modern times, starring Sophitia and Taki, surprise surprise, lol. This is just about them coping since their backgrounds are so diverse. This isn't a crossover, sorry. The shoujo-ai part won't turn up for a while, but it'll be funny, although this part contains more drama. This story is mostly a drama/humor/romance.

Ages for characters are my main focus for distinguishing each other, not school year ranks so much.

Character ages and school year ranks are:  
Sophitia – 19, Junior  
Taki – 23, Senior  
Mina – 17, Sophomore  
Mitsurugi – 23, Senior  
(More coming)

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Chapter 1: Tribulations

….._'click'_….._ 'B-ring'_

"**SacredEmblem12**: Hi:) Are you there?" Sophitia waited patiently by her computer screen as she clicked onto her IM. She lived in her own apartment that had the basic living room and kitchen, a balcony that looked over to south of Chelsea in New York City. She had a single bathroom and three rooms; one for herself and two guest rooms even though she lived by herself.

'_B-ring'_ "**DragonMistress43**: Of course!:) What did you think I do whenever you pop up onto my screen? Ignore you?"

Sophitia smirked at the reply from the person she loved to speak to everyday, even though she had no idea who this person really was.

"**SacredEmblem12**: I never expect you to; I know you love talking to me as much as I love talking to you ;)" Sophitia leaned back in what she called her 'business chair' since it was the kind that you by in the desktop section in places like Office Max.

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: Very true :)"

"**SacredEmblem12**: What're you doing now?"

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: Basically babysitting my little sister, although she's the type who believes that she doesn't need to be watched over, which I myself doubt, lol."

"**SacredEmblem12**: You're just being mean." Sophitia smirked as she wrote her reply.

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: I know, I love her to death even though a sixteen year-old can be a hassle ;P"

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: What're you doing?"

Sophitia sat back before she answered, trying to think of a way to word her next sentence right. "**SacredEmblem12**: Working on my college papers. I'm even meaner than you are by saying this, but when they're done and graded I'm going to burn 'em."

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: LOL. Don't worry; I always think the same as you ;) I'm in college as well. Marymount Manhattan College, it's tedious but workable ;P"

Sophitia raised her eyebrows in surprise. 'She lives in NYC as well?... Hm, small world.'

"**SacredEmblem12**: Really? :o Wow. I go to New York University, most likely the same as yours with its tediousness." Sophitia spoke the words in her head as if the information was nothing to her.

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: :O New York University!! You must have a lot of smarts to get into that one! I'm trying to get into that university myself, believe it or not. I think I just use your library and that's about as close to your university as I can get… _whimpers_."

Sophitia almost laughed at DragonMistress43's rather pitiful response.

"**SacredEmblem12**: I'm not that smart, it just takes a lot of work ethic ;) I'm sure you can get further then that anyway . When you get in, perhaps you and I'll be in the same classes." Sophitia grinned and bit her nail slightly as she waited eagerly for DragonMistress43's answer.

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: One can only hope ;) I just hope that there isn't as many people that are as abnormally nice (I mean that in a good way, I swear ;P) as you are so that possibly finding you would be easier to distinguish you by :)"

Sophitia tried to hold back her flustered face, even though she was alone, as she read her friend's compliment.

"**SacredEmblem12**: My, aren't you the little sweet-talker ;P" She smirked as she typed.

'_B-ring' _"**DragonMistress43**: Thank you and I meant what I said:) … Ugh, My sister's calling me, I'll chat with you later?"

Sophitia smirked with both mischievousness and excitement for their next meet as she replied. "**SacredEmblem12**: Of course, just give me a ring on the computer screen. Chat with you later, bye!"

With that she clicked off her IM box after she'd seen her friend's reply of "Good night." She stretched her back before she made her way through her living room while making sure that she wouldn't hit the leg of her cherry oak coffee table like she usually did due to her carelessness.

Coming to the balcony, she looked over the city lights like she did almost every night. There wasn't much since she faced the southern part of NYC, but the night sky above the roofs of the duplexes and apartment complexes was always a beautiful sight to see.

She sighed as she felt the light breeze caress the side of her face. She crossed her arms and leaned onto the metal railing of the balcony. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, that she knew. The reason being was that the only part about going to the community university library that she hated was going to show up yet again.

"That Asian girl…" Sophitia spoke to no one in particular as she blinked slowly. "Is going to get on my nerves one of these days." She raised her head to the twilight sky as she spoke in a low voice.

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The next day the bell rang at just the right moment for Taki. She was just about ready to surrender to the idea of letting her head fall upon the desk due to utter sleeplessness. She left her most hated class, Trigonometry, with her old boyfriend Mitsurugi, who is now just her best friend who just basically helps her and gives her advice if needed.

Mitsurugi wore what he usually did; light, baggy blue jeans held up by a thick leather belt. He left his blue and white plaid-like collared shirt unbuttoned for the purpose of revealing his sleeveless white shirt beneath.

"Have any sports meets today, Taki?" Mitsurugi asked while only glancing at Taki as they walked down the wide white-walled hallway with tall teal-green lockers only on one side.

"Luckily no." Taki spoke with a long sigh as she repositioned her books within her arms.

"Luckily? I thought your sports were your favorite part of school." Mitsurugi looked at her longer this time as he gave her a look of slight confusion.

"It is, but I have enough homework as it is so I have to go to the library I always go to and I have to sign up for some things to try and get into the university I want to move to. I have to take another entrance exam." Taki stated simply as she fixed the collar of her cranberry-colored half-buttoned cotton shirt and looked down at her long blue jeans just after.

Mitsurugi paused for a brief moment. "Well, at the rate that you're going with classes, I don't think your chances of getting into that university are the best." He stated with a raised eyebrow as he looked down to the navy-colored carpeting.

Taki looked at him with an expression of slight scowl. "Well thank you for your positivism." She spoke sarcastically which matched her smile as she came to her own locker. Mitsurugi leaned onto the lockers next to her.

"Hey, I'm just saying that besides your domination in sports, I suggest that you do other things." His deep almond eyes softened at her, even though she didn't look back at him since she seemed all too busy in stocking her locker up with books again. "You're such an aloner Taki, you hardly ever socialize with anyone besides me. I don't think you even socialize with your track, fencing, basketball or tennis teammates!" He added in a tone as if he was stunned just by that little fact.

When he noticed that Taki didn't even look like she cared about what he said he just rolled his eyes in annoyance and sighed silently. "What I said about your chances of moving into the university, I only said that because I didn't want you to get your hopes up if your class participation records indeed true. And I'm only saying that maybe you need to get yourself a real life." He spoke in a soft tone as if he thought his words were redeeming.

Taki's dark wooden orbs snapped to his and had a look on her face as if she was about to growl at him. This was the reason she had left him in the first place; his 'I'm more of a life-liver than you are' talk and sometimes negative responses to her really rubbed her the wrong way. He was just too forward about how she lives her life at times and sometimes kind of a control freak as well.

What she hated most about his attitude was that he would always remind her of the negative things about her academic life, as if she wasn't going through enough what with sports, her somewhat large family, and getting into the top university in New York. Her life was strenuous enough without needed a reprise from her only friend in her community college.

"Well you have an odd way of showing your 'support'!" Taki spoke in a somewhat harsh tone as she lowered her eyebrows. Her anger-filled eyes went to her backpack as she filled it with the necessary books. "And by the way, somebody who watches 'Samurai Jack' on Cartoon Network says that _I _should get a life?!" She threw her backpack over her shoulder as she shouted at Mitsurugi, who looked furious at that remark although Taki could see his not-very-well-hidden blush.

"Hey, my thirteen year-old cousin is the one who watches it not me! And that's none of your business anyway!" He retorted, his light blush expanding slightly and his nostrils flaring with anger.

"Then stay out of mine!" Taki shot back, fuming as she strode passed him, only to be grabbed by the arm and pulled closer to Mitsurugi. She stubbornly struggled against his grip with gritted teeth but stopped as she saw the softness in his eyes.

"Alright, alright. You've made your point. You're life is your own business, truce?" He asked in a soft tone and his usual charming facial expression of a sly smile and a raised eyebrow.

Taki softly pulled her arm away from Mitsurugi's as she looked down and shifted the weight of her backpack on her shoulder. "Fine." She looked back up to him with a smirk. "I thought you learned your lesson last time when you struck a nerve of mine."

Mitsurugi rubbed his cheek with his hand and seemed to wince. "Oh don't worry; your lesson is still there." He smiled sarcastically but Taki could tell he was doing that just to be funny. Taki chuckled as she continued to walk back towards the front doors of the college with Mitsurugi at her heels. He stopped as he noticed that Taki was going in a completely different direction then him; which to him was an unusual thing. "Not taking the subway?" He asked as he pointed in the direction of the stairs leading underground.

Taki smiled brightly as if she was excited. "Nope, I'm going to take my pride and joy." She answered in a rather giddy sort of way.

"Oh, so you finally got it eh?" Mitsurugi raised his eyebrows as he smiled in slight surprise.

"Yep, years of babysitting my younger siblings really pay off." She turned to the parking lot, excited grin still upon her face. "See you tomorrow." She waved behind her back, not seeing Mitsurugi's small wave in return.

Taki dug out her keys for the 'new best friend in my life' toy and looked longingly at it as she came closer to her new Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, which looked like it was begging to go back onto the road. It had vibrantly dark red as the dominant color and deep purple was the color of the parts of its frame that curved inward. She lovingly spray-painted two long, golden scaly dragons with silver spikes along their vertebra upon it, which to her made it 'complete'.

She swung her leg over the seat and put on her 'specially chosen' red and black MX helmet and shut the dark visor over her eyes. Though how excited she was about riding her toy again she scowled slightly as she reality of going to the library came to her as she swerved between the light traffic.

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"Is there not a day when you're _not_ here?"

Sophitia looked over her shoulder, away from her bookwork which she set upon one of the many long tables of the university library, to find Mina with an amused smirk on her face as she took a seat next to her higher-classman.

"Basically." Sophitia returned simply as Mina dropped her two books textbooks upon the table, which was a small amount compared to the stack that Sophitia had next to her.

Mina had her hair up in a ponytail and had a rather simple attire on, which was a white short-sleeved shirt underneath a turquoise Old Navy zipped-up vest and dark blue track pants. This was a rare thing for Sophitia since they were in a lot of each other's classes and she knew Mina had the tendency to flirt when the students had nothing to do for the final five minutes of class.

Of course Sophitia had a very simple wardrobe; almost dark blue, tight-fitted hip-hugger and long pant-leg bellbottoms (or normal skirts that she saves for summers) and any shirt just as long as it was either a v-neck or had buttons to adjust the shirt herself. She chose to have her hair that framed her face pulled back into a crème-colored tie.

"How long are you going to stay here this time?" Mina asked as she carelessly flipped through the pages of one of her own books. Sophitia eyed her large stack of books for a moment.

"I really don't want to estimate." She raised an eyebrow as she spoke, making Mina snigger slightly.

"I wouldn't want to either." Mina turned her full attention to Sophitia as she leaned her cheek on her elbow. "Are you going to sign up for the University Exchange?"

Sophitia immediately pulled back slightly in confusion. "The what?"

"You didn't hear? The only person who actually pays attention in class didn't hear?" Mina stated sarcastically with a tone that sounded as if she was shocked, although her grin could clearly be seen. She continued after Sophitia gave her a fake laugh. "Students who have constant high honors in schools like New York University can have someone from a community college come over to live with them."

"Isn't that kind of odd? To have a complete stranger live with you just so that they can know more about what NYU is like?" Sophitia spoke as if the idea of the 'University Exchange' was quite idiotic.

"Well it's only the people from community colleges that are _willing_ to live with another person. I hear you get to meet the person before you actually decide whether you want to keep doing it or not." Mina informed as if she had read the full description of the 'University Exchange'.

"Why are you asking me whether I want to or not?" Sophitia asked rather suspiciously. Mina averted her gaze to the textbook, but didn't read it.

"Oh I was just wondering since you're basically the valedictorian of the class, maybe you'd like to help a poor little soul out." Mina stated simply although Sophitia could tell she was holding back a grin. "And who knows, maybe you'll get hooked up with a cute guy." Mina glanced at her friend at the corner of her eye.

Sophitia looked away as if she wasn't interested. "Heh, no thanks, they'll just waste my time."

"You always say that!" Mina looked at her with eyes wide with disbelief as if Sophitia just suddenly annoyed her. "Should I count how many good-looking guys have asked you out yet you always turn down!?"

"Should _I_ remind _you_ that I don't care and that I just want to focus on getting through the rest of my school years?" Sophitia replied in her defense.

"Well, why not try signing yourself up on the 'exchange' thing and make it a bit more worth while for you?" Mina pried yet again. "And besides, today's supposed to be the last day to sign up." She informed.

"I'm not going to do it." Sophitia stated simply as she opened another textbook to try and focus on what needed to be done but Mina started in again and so the two kept continuing their debate that they thought they'd never settle.

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"I can't believe I'm doing this." Sophitia groaned in defeat as she sat in front of the computer and signed the form on the website. Mina smiled rather triumphantly behind her.

"I knew the thought of the honor of receiving another school credit for doing this would be your downfall." She stated with a grin as Sophitia had finally finished. Sophitia turned to her and replied with a dull growl.

Sophitia was about to open her mouth in defense as well as protest until their discussion was disrupted as a whole group of students started talking near the library's entranceway, which was being blocked from the curious two by the fact that they were on the second floor of the circular library.

Mina's curiosity got the better of her as always as she walked to along the scarlet carpeting of the library and looked over the railing and down to the ground floor. She noticed Sophitia next to her as she looked down. They watched as students began to crowd around a woman who looked of oriental blood. They had no idea why she came to their library since she didn't go to their university, but then again they often didn't recognize other people that came to their library either.

The woman looked as if she was enjoying what the students were saying to her, which the two could barely make out as 'congratulations' for something. Sophitia scowled; this was just what she was waiting for since the day before when she was out on her balcony. It wasn't jealousy she was feeling, that she knew; it was just annoyance. This woman would get about the same treatment everyday and it irritated Sophitia after a time.

The crowd slowly dispersed as the woman made her way through to one of the computers on their second level.

"Hm, wonder who she is?" Mina spoke to mostly herself as she leaned against one of the many tall dark wooden bookshelves and stared at the girl, who seemed quite intent as she kept her eyes on the trees on the screen.

"I think it's 'Taki'." Sophitia spoke up behind her, keeping her emotionless eyes upon the woman. Mina turned to Sophitia with curiosity on her face.

"The 'sporty' girl? You mean she's the one who keeps beating her college's sporting records?" Mina pointed at her with her thumb with a look of surprise on her face.

"I suppose. I've overheard a little bit about her when I stayed here during later nights." She explained simply.

"I see." Mina looked back over to the woman supposedly named 'Taki'. "Do you want to talk to her?" Mina turned to her with a rather cocky look on her face. "Or would you rather work on your homework?" She asked with a voice matching her cocky face.

Sophitia raised an eyebrow. "You even _dare_ asking those questions?" With that she turned to go back to their original table. Mina smirked, knowing Sophitia was going to reply that way.

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It was beginning to irritate Taki how fast the night sky came yet she was relieved as she had finally finished with her late report. Logging off and shoving her books back into her backpack, she then after threw her backpack over her shoulder once again. The night's darkness poured into the room from the large windows that were close to the ceiling. The only light of the room came from the streetlights outside and a few lamps that were placed upon the long tables for people who stayed as late as she did and later were still on.

'I wish people wouldn't crowd around me so much when I just walk through the door here; it's embarrassing.' Taki complained in her head as she headed back through the bookshelves to the stairs to the ground floor. 'I mean Kami! You'd think they'd never seen a person run around the track once let alone beat a time! Beating times aren't that important to me anyway, I just like the challenge of beating _myself_ and making _myself_ better let alone the whole school. So what if I play more sports than almost all of my class? It doesn't mean they have to crowd around me.'-"Oof!"

Taki's train of thought stopped as she felt herself run straight into someone who had just turned around the corner of a bookshelf. They both seemed to have been walking so fast that when they ran into each other they had nearly fallen over as they grunted slightly on the impact.

"What were you doing? Counting how many medals you've one?" The girl who seemed younger than her asked cynically as she hugged her books to her chest. Taki's eyes snapped to her face as it was semi-lit by what little light there was. She looked at the blonde in surprise at what she had said, her face morphed into a scowl.

"No, I wasn't for your information." Taki stated in a low but harsh voice then leaned toward her slightly with narrowed eyes. "And what business is it of yours anyway? How would you know me so well as to say something like that?"

"I've seen all that I need to see down there by the entrance." She stated as she pointed to the ground floor where all the students had gathered around her. She strode passed Taki to place her books within the shelves.

"What? Do you think I used some 'call' to _make _them flock over to me?" Taki asked skeptically as she followed her. The girl turned to look at her with no hint of emotion in her eyes then turned back to continue. Although there was just enough light that laid upon her face for Taki to just barely recognize it. "You… you're the bookworm that's in here at the same times as me." Taki thought aloud.

The girl sharply turned to her and scowled at her. "Firstly, I'm not a 'bookworm', my name's Sophitia! And secondly, I'm in here almost every day! It's you that suddenly shows up all the time." She jammed the last of her books harshly into the shelf as she finished. Sophitia strode past Taki again to grab her bag.

"Well then I'm sorry my lifestyle displeases you, I'll try very hard next time so that it suits your fancy, 'Ms. P-E-R-F-E-C-T'." Taki spoke in such a cocky manner that Sophitia looked like she desperately wanted to throw a book at her. "Now, let me have the honors of departing so that my ways and air won't pollute yours. Gods know that we wouldn't want to completely shatter your perfection." Taki finished as she strode over to the entrance, fuming but glad that she got in the last word. She sighed as she walked through the doorway.

"The next time you count your medals, make sure that the medals you're counting are real, jock!!"

Taki sharply turned with wide eyes as she heard Sophitia's voice and was about to go back in to put her back in her place but the doors shut before she could go in. The stopped herself from opening the door, knowing that matters would only get worse if she did. She clenched her fist with rage until her knuckles were bone-white, then slammed her fist into her hand to try and release some of it.

She breathed out as much rage as she could, seeing as to how driving with road rage is a bad idea, especially when you ride a motorcycle. 'Surely my friend can bring me out of the after-effects of this little experience.' Taki thought to herself as soon as she thought she was sane enough to ride her toy through the streets that usually have more cars upon it during the night.

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"**DragonMistress43**: You there?"

Taki hoped to high heaven that her friend would reply as she laid her rather bulky laptop on her lap as she sat in her love-seat couch and put her feet up on the brown oval-shaped coffee table.

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: Lucky you, you just got me through the door :)"

Taki sighed silently in relief. "**DragonMistress43**: How's your day been?"

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: For the most part I can't really complain, of course by the end of the day it kind of crashed and burned."

'That's how I feel.' Taki thought to herself as she typed her reply. "**DragonMistress43**: That's basically how mine went as well."

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: Really Oo? What happened to you?"

"**DragonMistress43**: An argument that I didn't expect, to put it simply. You?"

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: I ran into somebody I didn't really like, so without even 'Hello's we basically engaged in an all-out war."

"**DragonMistress43**: That's what my argument was like. Strange coincidence eh?"

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: Anything can happen I guess."

"**DragonMistress43**: Yeah, I guess, I just wish less would happen to me."

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: lol, I always think that."

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: I signed up for something called a 'University Exchange' today."

Taki raised her eyebrows in surprise at this. "**DragonMistress43**: I did that as well, I'm going to be living with the honors student."

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: I'm going to be the person who is going to let the person live with me. I'm a little uneasy about it, but my friend made me and she thought it was okay. Maybe you'll end up with me :)"

Taki smiled at the idea. "**DragonMistress43**: I would enjoy that:) I really would."

'_B-ring' _"**SacredEmblem12**: Me too :)"

Taki could literally feel her heart begin to feel warm at her friend's agreement as she tried to think of another good reply.

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The next morning which, luckily for Taki was a Saturday, so Taki had the pleasure of sleeping in. Of course her relaxing sleep was unforgivably disrupted as her younger sister, Sakura who went to high school, jumped on top of her yelling Taki's name excitedly.

"Sakura!" Taki scolded although it was mostly in a groan. "You know, you have to stop doing this eventually. I mean, what if somebody was with me?" She raised an eyebrow at her long ebony-haired sister who also had purple streaks in it due to her rather extreme love of anime. Even though they moved to New York and lived there for almost five years, her youngest sister chose to have her love for anime and manga to show.

Sakura merely cocked her head to one side. "At this point, that's kind of unlikely." She spoke simply as she began to fidget for and look around for something on the sheets. Taki's eyes went wide at her sister's reply.

"And just what is _that_ supposed to mea-?" Taki stopped as Sakura finally found what she was looking for: a long and narrow envelope. "What's this?" She asked as she took the envelope and looked at Sakura suspiciously.

"How should I know? It's _your_ mail." Sakura stated as she got off the bed and headed for the door. She suddenly turned back to Taki with her hand on the door frame. "And by the way, Haitani wants to ask you for some sort of favor; something about magazines. He's waiting for you in the kitchen, so hurry it up." And with that, Sakura left to the kitchen.

Taki rolled her eyes at what her sister informed her to do. 'Ugh, wonderful, this is just what I need on a perfectly good Saturday. My perv of a younger brother is probably going to ask me to hide his dirty magazines from father again.' Taki scowled with annoyance at the thought as she ripped open the envelope.

Her eyebrows rose with intrigue when she saw that the letter was approving her admission into the 'University Exchange'. What had her even more surprised was that they had already chosen who she was supposed to live with.

Her eyes widened as she froze in horror at the name that was listed for her in highly noticeable italic letters: '_Alexandra, Sophitia_.'

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"WHAT!?!?" Sophitia choked on her morning tea as she read the name that she now despised on the letter from NYU's 'University Exchange'. "T-T-Taki!? Oh please no. _Please_ let that be a misprint." Alas, Sophitia knew that her own university, which handled thousands of students a day, would never mistype a single name.

She whimpered at her own misfortune as she bent her head back and crumpled the letter within her hand. "How am I possibly going to survive at all with that jock even knowing that she's going to be in the same apartment as me all day?" She groaned as she ran a hand through her hair at the top of her head, massaging her scalp as if she was already getting a migraine.

"I have to call Mina and hopefully she can help me get out of this." Sophitia spoke as she ran hastily towards the phone at the edge of the kitchen counter.

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Taki walked listlessly into the kitchen that was full with her rowdy brothers, sister and single father.

'Great… Just great… I get stuck with _her._' Taki complained in a low tone in her head as she walked through the kitchen, ignoring her arguing siblings. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see her younger, curved yet thickly-spiked haired brother, Haitani.

"Hey Taki, I… erm… whoa… what happened to you last night?" He raised an eyebrow at her condition when he looked into her eyes; she looked extremely aggravated and was ready to kill anyone who would rub her the wrong way. "Couldn't sleep?"

Taki moved her jaw to one side in a grinding motion and tried to smile as she replied. "Nothing of your concern." Taki put her hand on the refrigerator door handle. "What do you want?" Taki asked in a careless tone. "I'm not hiding your… 'treasures'… again." She warned in a low voice as she took the carton of milk and headed for the cupboard for a glass.

"Please! I'm beggin' you! Dad threatened he's going to burn them. Just put them under your bed until he's not so hot-headed, please?" Haitani pleaded with both hands clasped together as he nearly kneeled down on the floor.

Taki sighed at his puppy-dog eyes and looked away to continue on what she was doing. "Fine; I won't be here anyway." Taki stated as she took her glass into the living room.

"Really now?" Her father heard that last sentence and suddenly came in with a tone of intrigue. He watched her sit down onto the couch of the family room across from the kitchen.

Taki sighed again; this was going to be a long story.

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"You called her a what?" Mina asked over the phone with a raised eyebrow. She was quite surprised at the coincidence of Taki and Sophitia ending up being 'University Exchange' buddies.

"A 'jock'." Sophitia put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes as she answered. "I just threw it in as a last remark. I mean it fits her anyway because she's just all into her athletics and a 'jock' is basically a football or basketball athlete. It just popped into my head and it worked at the point!" Sophitia rambled, trying to get her point across.

"Well you ought to try and figure out a way of making things better for you two. You're supposed to meet at the library we always go to." Mina paused. "I would go if I were you, I mean, what if she still wants to bunk with you nonetheless?" Mina asked as if she was really thinking of it as a possibility.

Sophitia blinked as she thought Mina's possibility over. "If she's willing to live with me and is willing to take this seriously, then I'll… let her stay." She sighed. "When are we supposed to meet?"

"Monday." Mina informed simply.

"Alright. I'll try my best to get along with her." Sophitia promised as she leaned back on her couch.

"I certainly hope so; 'cause with what you told me about your fight with her, I might need to buy some war helmets." Mina noted with a grin.

Sophitia laughed. "Build some trenches and barbwire fences while you're at it." Sophitia grinned as Mina laughed at her note and said goodbye. She sighed as she hung up the phone and ran her hand down her face. "This is going to be fun." She noted sarcastically as she looked up towards her balcony. "I hope DragonMistress is having better luck than I am."

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The next couple of chapters will have a lot more humor in them, so hang on. I hope you liked this one. Some of the scenes that I'll use I got the idea from the manga 'Love Hina'.


	2. Moving in,,,? Part 1 Complications

Do not own SC characters. I've decided that this fic will be more of an episodic storyline than anything else. So these chapters will show what happens bit by bit. I hope you like it : )

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Chapter 2: Moving in…? Part 1 Complications

Sophitia kept running her fingers through her bangs in both aggravation and slight anticipation for what she would be expecting at the 'University Exchange' meeting at the library. The last bell of the day made her heart pound as she and the rest of the student body made their way to their lockers.

She took her time as she placed her books within her narrow locker. Red-brown hair caught her eye; she looked over to find Mina leaning against a locker that was two lockers away from her own. Sophitia became suspicious as she noticed Mina's grin on her face.

"Is there a reason why you're here with that grin on your face?" She raised an eyebrow as she noticed that Mina already had her backpack firmly hooked onto her shoulder.

"I'm here to make sure that you'll go to the library because I know you'll back out." Mina continued to grin knowingly. Sophitia sighed, even more aggravated.

"I won't, I promise!" She shoved the last of her books in and gathered her bag. "Even though she most likely won't come anyway." Sophitia noted in a stubborn tone.

Mina rolled her eyes at this. "You don't know that. Like I said to you on the phone, what if she wants to stay with youdespite what happened between you two?" Mina raised an eyebrow, as if waiting for a possible come-back reply from her friend. Sophitia paused, then sighed as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

"I can't believe you made me do this in the first place." She stated as she shut her locker. Mina put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it helps you with your sociable-self, your confidence and the possibility of making up with her." Mina statedpointedly as if they're simple facts. Sophitia paused as she walked to the school doors that had students waiting and nudging to get through.

"I suppose. But do you really have to come?" Sophitia had a hopeful look on her face as she turned to Mina. The two finally made their way out of the doorway as the sun's reflection off of the skyscrapers came into their eyes.

"You know it." Mina grinned mischievously as if she knew this would be embarrassing torture for Sophitia in the respect that she was being watched over by a sophomore. "I'll make you a deal though." She proposed as she saw Sophitia's displeasured gaze that slowly swept onto her own. "How 'bout I stay with you only until you actually see and say "hi" to her. Then I'll leave you to sort out the desired situation with her. Workable?" Mina raised an eyebrow as if say 'c'mon, that's gotta be fair enough!'.

Sophitia sighed as they came to the stairs of the subway station. She took a long look at Mina to see if there were any hints of her hiding something, but her face seemed blank apart from her raised eyebrow and grin of anticipation.

"Fine, fair enough." Sophitia dropped a coin into the toll to let her pass into the station with Mina doing the same and following her to the train. "Gods know I may need somebody to hold me back if she throws an insult at me." She noted as she brushed her hair back behind her ear.

"You'll be fine." Mina encouraged with a pat on Sophitia's back as they came close to the train that had its passengers flooding into it as the doors opened.

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Taki took her time as she made her way to the university library. She decided not to take her motorcycle because of the possibility of having another argument with her to-be roommate. Of course, not having her toy with her made her even more miserable through the day, although the library wasn't really that far from where her school was anyway. The only good thing was that Mitsurugi wasn't as blunt as he was with her the day she met _her_ in the library

Walking through the automatic glass double-doors of the library, she was surprised to see so many people there. Sheeasily figuredthat some were just the normal visitors and others were the people who signed up in the 'University Exchange'.

The Japanese athlete cleared her throat as she adjusted her backpack and headed over towards a long empty table at the side of the room. She leaned against the table and crossed her arms over her chest as she eyed the room for a blonde girl slightly shorter than herself.

To double check with possible arrangements, she went to the main desk where the organizers of the exchange stood. After waiting in a slightly long line of people who confirmed their placements in the exchange, she came up to the neatly dressed and combed male organizer who seemed in his mid-forties and waited for his hazel eyes behind his glasses to meet her brown eyes.

"Is there anyway to change a placement?" Taki asked as patiently as she could even though she was quite eager for a good answer. He raised his eyebrows as if he was intrigued then turned to a list of names attached to a clipboard and flipped through the sheets oflists underneath. He pressed his lips together and finally shook his head as he looked back up at her.

"There doesn't seem to be any extras that we weren't able to pair up with someone else, luckily." Taki inwardly rolled her eyes at his note of 'luckily', thinking that she was the only unlucky one. "If you're unhappy with the person you're with, then you can either discontinue your claim of joining the exchange, or you can just try to live with the person nonetheless." He informed in a very fact-like manner.

'I've come too far to stop here just because of her.' Taki sighed as she thought. She thanked him and walked back to her lone backpack with her hands in her pockets. 'I'll figure out some way to live with her, even if I may not like it at all. I want to do this; I want to see what university-life is like over at the NYU.' Taki concluded to herself confidently as she once again leaned against her table, waiting for her roommate.

The girl with her blonde hair didn't take long to come through the doors being guided by the arm by someone who Taki assumed was her friend. Sophitia showing up at all surprised her slightly, although it was the aggravated look on her face of how she really felt that gave her away.

Taki waited for them to snap eyes upon her but they seemed to be having trouble seeing her through the crowds of people. She smirked as she knew the perfect word to address her to-be roommate by; "Hi, my bookworm roommate!" She called while still holding her smirk which turned into a grin as Sophitia's eyes immediately snapped to her own. Both their eyes narrowed as they looked at each other.

Sophitia turned and grabbed Mina, who didn't seem to notice what just happened, and pulled her towards Taki's direction.

"Hello sport-fan." Sophitia replied skeptically as she came closer to Taki, who waited for her to stop right in front of her. The two said nothing for a few seconds in which Mina was already becoming nervous at the silence until Sophitia spoke up again as Taki put her arm through the strap of her backpack. "So… do you want to save ourselves more arguments and just get out of the exchange? Make it easier on the both of us?" Sophitia didn't want to wait around for her answer, thinking she knew what it was, but didn't turn around to leave because she knew Mina would most likely pull her back.

"No." Taki answered in a deep and sincere voice that made Sophitia's eyebrows rise in surprise, especially when Taki refused to leave eye contact with her. "I want to keep going with this even if the both of us may not like it. I want to get into the NYU." Taki stated in a proclaiming, serious voice.

Sophitia just looked at her, surprised and intrigued because of the fact that a girl that she started a fight with was still willing to live with her because of her own academic desires. "Then… you're truly serious with this? You're willing to stay with me?" Sophitia's tone portrayed her surprised confusion at the same time.

Taki simply nodded slowly. Mina smiled at how well this was going and she was lucky that they didn't pay much attention to her because then one of the two of them would be focusing on her if this meeting hadn't gone well. Taki swung her backpack onto her shoulder. "I have to get my stuff from my place." Taki informed simply.

Sophitia shrugged. "Fine, I'll write down where I live and you can come over with your stuff." She suggested.

Taki shook her head. "I can't; I own a motorcycle." She stated.

Sophitia pulled back in surprise and slight fright. 'Oh great, she's a Harley rider too? Why me of all people…?' Sophitia stopped as she closed her eyes and casually ran a hand through her hair. Mina noticed this and almost burst out into laughter; she remembered how much Sophitia hated motorcycles, she'd even turn down cute guys just for that.

"How 'bout we just take the subway to your place and maybe you can drive me over to my house and we can load it. And before you ask, no; we can't go separate ways and I meet you over to your house because my family won't let me use our only car and I can't give you the address of where I live because you'll never find it." Taki explained with a raised eyebrow. Sophitiablinked and stared at her blankly, tno expecting Taki's thoroughness.

"Sure, alright. Taking the subway to my place then?" Sophitia just wanted to confirm what they were doing after she had been given all the alternatives. Taki nodded and walked toward the entrance with Sophitia at her side.

"Well I'm surprised to see that this went well. Call me and tell me how it goes." Mina stated as she patted her friend on the back and with her sly smile left the two to be in 'peace'.

8

The two made it onto the subway train speechlessly even though it was surprisingly packed with people; they had no choice but to go near a seat-less wall with the both of them hanging onto one swinging handle that hung from the train's ceiling. They felt the small jerk at the train began to move.

Sophitia really didn't like the awkward silence the two of them had so she had no choice but to break it. "S-so you ride a motorcycle?" She raised her eyebrows as she spoke as if to act intrigued. Taki slowly turned to her with a suspicious eye.

"Yeah, what about it? Surprised?" Taki raised an eyebrow, as if she new something was about to start.

"Not really, I mean I can see why a sport-lover and such a masculine woman like you would like a Harley in her garage." Sophitia stated as she shrugged and looked out the window behind Taki, who had her back to their wall that they were closest to, and watched as the station's iron beams flew by.

"A Harley?" Taki bent down to her slightly and looked at her in surprise. "I don't own a Harley, I have a Kawasaki Ninja! Harley's are too 'biker-gang' for me." Taki informed, trying to state her point the best that she could using her tone.

"Do you go to biker bars after your wrestling meets?" Sophitia narrowed her eyes at Taki, who looked like she was about to explode with anger.

"No I don't and don't start with me like you did last time! And by the way, I don't do wrestling for your information." Taki stated rather loudly as she leaned towards her. "And what about you? Do you go to a bar that is also considered a 'nerdry' with your fellow bookworms and your calculators?" Taki asked harshly with a twitching eye. Sophitia now looked like she was about ready to wrap her hands around the Asian's throat.

"I told you not to call me a bookworm and I certainly rather have you not call me a 'nerd' you jock!" Sophitia retorted loudly as she kept leaning her head closer to Taki with narrowed eyes. They didn't really notice that they were now gather attention from nearly everyone else in the train car as they continued to buck heads against each other.

Taki fumed. "I would if you stop calling me a jock!"

"Why? It's the truth!" Sophitia shouted as both their teeth was now grinding together. Taki was about to open her mouth to speak until the conductor of the subway train spoke through the speaker above them.

"_Err-Emergency stop! All passengers please hang on!_"

In a blink the train made a powerful jerk and Taki heard Sophitia yelp and suddenly crushed against her. Taki only went backward but didn't fall as she was held onto the metal handle as the jerk occurred.

"What are you doing?" Taki asked loudly over the screeching brakes that didn't seem to stop. She became nervous as she could feel her thigh in between Sophitia's legs as the blonde still seemed to be crushed against her from the force. Taki could feel Sophitia's warm breath on her collarbone, making her face feel warm from nervousness.

"It's not my fault! It's the train and it's too crowded!" Sophitia retorted. She could feel her heart beating faster as she could feel her chest pressing against Taki at the ribs (because of the fact that Taki was taller than her) and her masculine frame. Her hand had also landed on Taki's rather taut stomach. She raised an eyebrow in intrigue as she could feel the muscles' slight bulge and outline beneath her fingertips although tried not to move them so that Taki wouldn't get the wrong idea. 'I wonder what they'd really look like if she wasn't covering them…' Sophitia thought with curiosity. Her eyes widened and mentally kicked herself. 'What in the gods' name am I thinking?' She felt like she would smack her hand on her face for even thinking that, but of course she was having enough trouble in trying to back away from Taki as it was.

The two tried to regain their composure as they tried to push away from each other. Sophitia turned away from Taki to face the door ahead of them even though there were still people in front of them. Of course the real reason Sophitia had turned around to have her back to Taki was so that she wouldn't see her slightly pink-colored face.

Unfortunately, they felt another force from the train as it tried to stop again and Sophitia, who wasn't holding onto anything, fell against Taki once again. The two yelped in surprise as they felt themselves crush against each other once again.

Both their mouths dropped open in shock at the feeling. Sophitia's posterior was leaning high into Taki's lap and Sophitia could feel Taki's strong yet well-developed torso pressing into her back.

'Oh…Kami...!' Taki thought in a deep inner voice as she felt Sophitia leaning hard into her lap, her eyes wide and her blush growing at the odd feeling of her thigh still in between Sophitia's legs. She was too timid at the point to place her hands on the curve of Sophitia's hips to nudge her away, mostly because of what Sophitia might think of her if she did that and what other thoughts her impulsive mind would think of she _did_ place her hands on her curvy sides. It would also look quite odd to an observer's eye.

To the two's relief the train finally stopped in front of the underground station. They wanted to get off as quickly as possible so that they could try and forget the embarrassing memory of nearly falling on top of each other, but there were so many people on board the train that they were never given a chance. Sophitia was finally able to get off first with Taki at her heels.

Today would definitely be considered an unfortunate dayfor Sophitia asshe hurried through the tolls and up the cement stairwell to get to her car and in her rush her toe hit the edge of a stair. She flinched slightly and threw her hands out to catch herself on the stairs but soon felt something quickly wrap around her abdomen and pull her back up to her feet. She whipped around to look in back of her and saw Taki looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

Taki cocked her head to one side slightly. "You're not very nimble are you?" She asked withsarcasm in her voice. Sophitia narrowed her eyebrows at her question and pulled off Taki's arm that still was wrapped around her. She turned to head up the stairs at a slower pace but looked back at Taki for a single second.

"I'm as nimble as I need to be, thank you!" Sophitia retorted as she walked back up the steps with her hands in her jean pockets. Taki couldn't help but smirk at Sophitia's return as she followed, adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.

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Taki didn't have time to see her roommate's apartment which wasn't far from the subway station; only maybe six blocks Taki figured. The apartment house appeared to be possibly ten to twelve floors and the exterior of the complex didn't look too shabby or old to Taki's eyes, it was certainly in better shape than her own apartment complex was.

Sophitia got into her dark blue Trailblazer from the complex's small underground garage to drive to Taki's home. Sophitia just wanted to get it over with and Taki felt the same way anyway. Taki let Sophitia drive as she told her the way street by street.

The sky was just beginning to turn amber since it was late in the afternoon. Taki's eyes just swept from each skyscraper's reflection of the afternoon sun in their windows. Being into sports Taki had what she considered a third eye or a sixth sense of direction so at some point she would tell Sophitia where to turn without even looking.

Sophitia raised an eyebrow; Taki was right, she'd never find her way to wherever she lived. By the many specific skyscrapers that she had seen before, she figured Taki lived further south of NYC than she did. Sophitia peered over to Taki, who sat next to her with a dull expression on her face as she looked forward as if she was in a bit of a daze. "Just how much do you need to get?" Sophitia looked at her suspiciously as if she was hoping that loading up her car wouldn't take long.

"Not much, just the rest of my books, my suitcases whichare half-packed because I wasn't sure if I'd actually see you today." Taki openly stated but didn't turn to Sophitia when she spoke; shewasn't curious enough to wantto see Sophitia's possible facial expressions. "And I'm sure I'll need my kotatsu." Taki noted as she leaned onto her fist, leaning her elbow in the space in front of the window that she gazed out of.

Sophitia looked over at her with a look of confusion. "A… what?" She was somewhat afraid to find out what a 'kotatsu' was since Taki's persona was a masculine one. She was somewhat afraid that it might be a dagger of some sort.

Taki looked at her for a split second then back to the main road that was somewhat full with cars. "You'll see. It's difficult to explain if you don't see what it looks like." She stated simply and rather dully. Sophitia looked at her strangely then inwardly shrugged as she turned back to the road.

Sophitia was relieved when Taki told her to turn into the complex driveway of a maybe eight-story brick-made structure. She heard Taki sigh as they came out of her car.

"You don't have to come if you don't want." Taki noted as she got the feeling that Sophitia might not think too well of how and where her family lived even though it suited her just fine.

Sophitia looked at her for a moment, no hint of emotion in her eyes as if she was thinking or debating what she should do. Of course Taki didn't wait since she wanted to get this over with and just listened if Sophitia should ever answer her.

"I… I don't mind. Do you think I might have a problem with where you live?" Sophitia didn't sound sarcastic or any way of that sort, just curious, which surprised Taki slightly by her honesty. She looked at Sophitia then shook her head.

"I just don't want you to think that you're wasting your time with my family when I get my things." She stated as she opened the glass door to the inside of the complex while having the patience of letting Sophitia go in first.

"I don't think that'll happen." Sophitia spoke with a nod as a 'thank you' when she obliged to Taki's kindness of letting her through the door. Taki followed behind her to the narrow staircases that led to the floors above. "Besides, meeting a sport-fanatic's family might be quite interesting." She noted with a smirk.

"Well then, be on your guard because my brothers and sister are a little different from me in their own special ways." Taki stated with her own smirk as she ran ahead of Sophitia to lead her to her apartment floor.

Sophitia jumped as she felt Taki grab her arm but held it gently. Her gaze swept up and eyed the back of Taki's head as she kept her in tow. "Just what do you think you're doing?" She raised an eyebrow.

Taki turned and tried to hide her smirk the best that she could. "Neither you nor I would want your incredible grace to suddenly fail on these steps, now would we?" Sophitia narrowed her eyes, as she could tell she was referring to what happened on the steps of the subway station.

"Oh be quiet." Sophitia took her arm back from Taki's grasp as she spoke and continued up the steps.

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"Hey guys!" Taki called as she opened up the cherry-oak door of her family's apartment with Sophitia at her heels. Sophitia peered through the door to catch an early glimpse of the Asian family's home: it was a little bigger than her own apartment but it was understandable from the size of Taki's family. The family room, which was at the opposite side of the room, had just amedium-sized TV set with a few Lazy-boy chairs and a dark green couch which was being occupied by who Sophitia guessed was Taki's two brothers. The small white and tan-colored kitchen where a middle-aged man stood and watched the teenagers play their video games was adjacent to the doorway.

"Hey Taki, glad you're here; what's the code for unlimited health for the GTA: Vice City game?" Taki's brother that looked much more sophisticated than her other curvy yet spiky-haired brother shouted to her rather loudly as his eyes kept locked upon the screen.

Taki stuffed her keys back into her pocket. "R1, L1, R1, R2, up, down, left, right and repeat it twice." Taki answered simply as she shut the door behind them. Her brother answered with a simple nod and a "right."

"Who's this Taki?" The man in the kitchen asked as he came forward with raised eyebrows as if he was intrigued.

"This is that girl I told you about; my new roommate." Taki answered but didn't look at him as she spoke. She made Sophitia follow her to her room just to hurry up the process of gathering her things as if she was afraid that something embarrassing would happen at some point.

"Ohhh?" Sophitia turned as she heard a teenaged girl's voice, even more surprised to see her extreme purple streaks in her hair. "So this is the bookworm? She doesn't really look like one; she isn't wearing those thick glasses." Taki's sister openly noted, making her older sister turn to her abruptly only to run into Sophitia's gaze of strong aggravation.

Taki's eyes darted nervously as she tried to search for a way out of this. "Compliment!" She declared loudly with a finger pointed towards the ceiling as if the light bulb in her head just went off. "Youdon't wear the glasses so think of it as a compliment!" Taki covered herself in a rather proud manner. She grabbed Sophitia's hand and dragged her to her room, ignoring her deep growl of annoyance.

Like a flash, Taki grabbed the remainder of her clothes and tossed them into her opened suitcase. Sophitia just looked around as she did so. She asked as her gaze swept about the rectangular-shaped room with weaved grass-paper wallpaper. The back wall had two windows with dark green blinds and was adjacent to the cherry-oak dresser, paper-covered desk complete with a laptop and the double bed that was opposite the two. It looked out above most of the other complexes and the deserted ally below that led to the parking area. She nearly yelped as she carelessly but at least almost silently hit her toe against a square table placed in the center-right section of the room that was the size of a coffee table and had some sort of blanket hanging around the edges underneath it. "What sort of thing is this?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she rubbed her toe.

"It's a 'Kotatsu'." Taki answered, only glancing at Sophitia as she spoke and continued to pack what she needed. "It's like a table with an electric blanket underneath to keep you warm when you work on it. I use it for homework and studying mostly. I'll need your help getting it downstairs just by holding open the doors for me." Taki explained as she threw her books from her cedar bookcase into her suitcase and zipping it up.

"I see." Sophitia eyed it, impressed with what the table could do, then let her gaze drift to the bed where three magazines laid carelessly upon its ruffled sheets. Out of curiosity, she came closer to sneak a peek. 'Heh. Surely sports almanacs or video game strategy guides.' She guessed in her head with a knowing smirk that soon changed into a surprised scowl as she discovered that they were some form of Playboy magazines with half-naked women on the covers. With a raised eyebrow she hesitantly took the magazines and lifted them towards Taki, who was too busy with her packing to really notice what happened. "So uh… you're into this stuff?" Sophitia asked in a low voice and watched as Taki turned to her with an expression saying "Hm?".

At the sight of the magazines her eyes went so wide that anyone would think that they would fall out of their sockets and she gasped so deeply and loudly that she sounded as if she just broke hastily through a watery surface. "Those aren't mine, I swear!" Taki waved her hands in front of her frantically as she tried to explain herself to the jade eyes that looked at her strangely.

As if on queue, Taki's spiky-haired brother walked in with a simple wave in a 'Hi'. "Hey, don't mind me; just getting your strategy guide for 'Vice City'. Arcade master: Keichii can't seem to figure out how to kill the seven Haitian drug lords." Haitani explained as he strode over to her bookshelves to look through her stack of video game guides. He wasn't even a foot away from her shelves when a pair of hands lashed out at him and grabbed the collar of his gray-black fleece shirt. "Hey, Hey! What's your problem?" He struggled against his elder sister's strong grip as she spoke.

"_You're_ my problem!" Taki retorted with grit teeth as she forcefully turned his head towards the magazines that Sophitia still held. "You picked a _fine_ time to throw those on my bed, 'brother-dearest'!" She continued with frustrated rage although Sophitia could see from the shade of color Taki held on her face that she was still embarrassed.

Haitani looked at the magazines with only a semi-worried expression. Sophitia noticed that his dark hazelnut eyes slowly began to travel down her body with interest, making her scowl slightly but didn't say anything as he turned to his angered sister. "Well you _told_ me to leave them in your room so that Father wouldn't see them." He defended as he struggled enough to make his sister's hands finally let go of him.

"Yes, but not actually _on_ by bed for other people to see! At least hide them underneath it!" Taki yelled as her brother slowly backed away towards the door.

"Alright! Jeez! You really have to work on that temperament problem of yours." He stated as stood in the doorframe. "Strategy guide please?" He pointed at the stack of guides.

Taki reluctantly walked over and pulled out the guide. "Why don't you make up your mistake by carrying my kotatsu down to her car? It should be unlocked if I remember correctly." Taki's question didn't really sound like one; more like a demand. Haitani blinked at her then looked over to Sophitia briefly then back to his sister with a small grin that made her nervous.

"Sh'yeah right I will." He didn't really sound interested in Taki's suggestion but then pointed in Sophitia's direction. "Maybe only if you give me one day or maybe even anight with that _kitsune_ of a roommate of yours." He spoke with a suggestively raised eyebrow that made Sophitia pull back and scowled at even though she had no idea what he just called her in his Japanese language.

Taki looked at him blankly with a blink then looked down with a face saying 'you asked for this…'. She rolled up the video game guide tightly in her hand, walked up to him and smacked the back of his head hard with it. She couldn't help but smirk at his rather high-pitched yelp as he bent over slightly with his hand on his head. "The next time I have to teach you a lesson, it'll be with a phonebook! So save yourself the pain and make yourself useful by carrying down my kotatsu to her blue Trailblazer." She threatened as he slowly stood straight as he rubbed the back of his head, wincing inpain.

He quickly stole the guide out of her grasp. "Okay I got the idea! Kami..." He complained as he headed out the door. "Just take a chill pill and I'll take it out in a sec." He added stubbornly as he headed back to his older brother.

Taki rolled her eyes as she restated his words mockingly to herself as she continued her task after tossing the dirty magazines under her bed. Sophitia was quite speechless as she watched Taki continue although she couldn't help but smirk at the 'loving' relationship she appeared to have with her siblings.

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Sophitia followed Taki who took her motorcycle and swerved between the cars and beat yellow lights back to her own apartment since she wasn't as familiar with this part of this city as Taki was. She kept eyeing the Asian's motorcycle whenever she could see it clearly; it wasn't as bad as she thought although she still wasn't willing to sit on it and the dragons on each side, which Taki had proudly informed her that she did them herself, she raised an eyebrow at.

When they came back to her apartment, Sophitia opened her trunk so that Taki could take the suitcases and kotatsu. Sophitia had only one thing to say after following Taki on the busy streets: "Does the rules of the road especially in cities mean nothing to you?" She yelled, feeling as if she was scolding her.

Taki just shrugged as she took the suitcases out. "I just thinkthat the'caution', 'stop' and 'yield' signsare more like suggestions really." She stated as she headed up to the elevator, which she was thankful for. Sophitia just rolled her eyes and shook her head at Taki's reply.

Sophitia came up with her and waited for her to come up from her second trip to get the kotatsu. She had offered to help but Taki just said that she was strong enough to take it, which Sophitia expected she would say so she just moved the coffee table out of the way for the kotatsu. She sat in the middle of the rather spacey living room on the floor where her coffee table used to be.

Taki and she had already lit up the kitchen and living room to drown out the darkness of the coming night. She scratched the back of her head slightly and leaned on the heels of her palms as she crossed one straight leg over the other. 'I have to ask Taki what her brother called me; it's beginning to bother me.' She thought as she rolled her neck only to hear a few cracks as she did so.

She jumpedat the 'bang!'as Taki suddenly burst through the door infront of her that she left ajar for her. Taki heaved and was hunched over slightly as she lugged in the table that was just a little shorter than the length of Taki's arms. After leaning on the door to gather her strength for a few more seconds, the strong college student staggered in over to Sophitia, who remained in her spot below her as the taller woman tried to slowly lower it so that Sophitia would be sitting underneath it.

Taki was glad she was going slowly so that she wouldn't possibly hurt the younger girl with it if she dropped it, but that thought soon left as she felt something furry brush around and in between her calves. She jumped at the feeling making her accidentally drop the wooden table when it was almost two feet from the ground. Sophitia yelped slightly as she quickly laid herself completely on the burgundy-colored carpet floor so that the table would land on its legs but not on her.

Taki quickly looked down to see a tan to brown-colored cat with amber-hazelnut eyes and a strange, squiggly dark brown marking on its forehead. The nearly skinny cat that was wrapping itself around her calves looked up at her with its big eyes with a pleading expression complete with a high but short 'meow' as if it was asking who this intruder was. Taki didn't move apart from raising her eyebrow at it. "What the hell?"

"What's the matter? Never seen a cat before?" Sophitia lifted herself into a sitting position again and asked as if she was amused by Taki's confused expression. Taki looked at her without moving her position as if she was afraid that one small move from her would make the cat hiss at her.

"I've seen them once and a while; we're not allowed to have pets in our building." Taki stated as she took another look at it and slowly lowered her finger towards its curious face to pet its nose and between its ears.

Sophitia cocked her head to one side, smiling as her cat eagerly rubbed its nose against the tip of Taki's middle finger. "We're not allowed to either, but I've been living here alone for so long that the manager snuck one in for me so thatit could keep me company." She explained as she watched Taki finally relax herself and kneel next to the cat so that she could hear the dull purr it let out as it began to nuzzle her palm.

"That was nice of him." She noted as she kept a plain expression as she watched the sand-colored cat as suddenly decided to go to its owner, leaving Taki to look at her from across the table.

"It was." Sophitia nodded as she let her pet rub itself around her sides and her back continuously. "Although I think you're the first visitor besides my own family that it really gets along with." She noted as she seemed to stare at a corner of the kotatsu then seemed to chuckle. "It was mostly guys that I brought in that it hardly ever got along with." She paused and narrowed her gaze as if she was trying to remember something. "Except Rothion… maybe. I don't think Ember scratched him as much as she did to the others." She noted as Ember rubbed herself against Sophitia's arms.

"Who?" Taki asked curiously as she grabbed her backpack which she laid next to the couch to her left of the balcony door.

"He was a… a friend." She stated simply although Taki noticed she was a little shifty in her seat as she said it. "But he's back in Greece so I really don't have to worry about him." Taki could tell that her attention seemed to change as she spoke but she didn't say anything about it.

"So… you're from Greece as well eh? I should've guessed by your slightly muddled accent and the way you decorate." Taki explained as she let her gaze drift across the room to some of the white figurines of Greek goddesses that were placed around the living room and kitchen. Taki guessed there were possibly five figurines. She turned back as Sophitia seemed to chuckle.

"I mostly have them to make my father happy since he's so devoted to our Greek heritage. But I like most of them so I let them sit around and don't stuff them in the closet with the rest of the Greek gods." Sophitia explained then slowly stood herself up and pointed towards the hallway behind Taki and in front of the kitchen. "I'll let you stay in the second room to the right and you can unpack however you want." She stated as she headed for the hallway to settle in her own room which was the very last room in the hallway. "I wake up at about six a.m. just to let you know, so if you hear rustling it's just me." She noted as she turned the corner with Taki following her with her own things.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind and try not to attack you during the night. And thanks for giving me a room; I thought I'd be lucky if you were going to make me sleep on the floor of your living room after the last time we met." Taki noted with a smirk that couldn't be helped.

Sophitia turned to her with narrowed eyes as she stood within her own doorframe. "I'm not that cruel." She stated with a shake of her head.

Taki smirked as she opened her door while being surprised to see that her room was rather respectable and roomy. "Oh ho, we shall see. Won't we?" She joked with a raised eyebrow and a grin that Sophitia just made a mocking laugh at before she closed her door behind her.

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Went well enough I hope. The next one will be just as funny if not better : ) Sophie and Taki may seem to be getting along now, but for them to get closer more unfortunate incidents like what happened in the subway must happen, so it'll be funny : ) What Haitani meant by 'kitsune' will be revealed in the next chapter.

To Witch-Hunter 51: Two stories in a row will be difficult like last time, but these two are actually keeping me organized in writing pages for each chapter of each fic. I'm glad you like it, this will kind of become more and more perverse with unfortunate incidents so it'll be quite funny : )

To Serge-kun: I hope you liked this one in that it was more comical for you : )

To reika45: The coping with each other as you can see is working out well at first but of course the more incidents that happen the harder they find it to deal with each other but their relationship grows underneath, so this should be an interesting fic ;)

To Dramon: Yeah, I thought that Taki being a sports-fan and Sophie being an all-around smart girl would make the relationship cuter yet more diverse in certain aspects. So the incidents will be hilarious as the fic goes on.

To Lokiador: Glad you liked it! Hope you liked this one as well : )

To animereader1: I hope you were able to wait this long since I had to delay until Tuesday the 28th. I glad you liked the last chapter : )

To cococachu: I'm quite glad that you went to this one, I figured you'd like it. I wanted to make a real comedy one with modern characteristics matching their… um, characters. I really didn't mean for Sophitia to be bitchy, just independent mostly, I wanted her to be really independent and strong while Taki was masculine, willing to be smart and willing to protect if needed, so basically all the things that most jocks are, lol. I could actually fit Yunsung in somewhere as an annoying, smart-mouthed cousin of Mina, so thanks, I can try and find a place : )


	3. Moving in,,,? Part 2 Family Issue’s 2

Do not own SC characters. I hope you like the character's chemistry in this one :)

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Chapter 3: Moving in…? Part 2 Family Issues #2

Taki shifted and ruffled her sheets in her sleep as she clutched her pillow closer to herself. The moonlight outlined her Asian features and feminine figure through the sliding glass door that she faced to the city skylines.

'_Ruffle-bump…' _

Taki murmured in her sleep as she felt something soft and furry bump and brush against her neck and upper back. She pulled her body lazily to become less than a foot away from the edge of the bed.

'_Bump…bump…'_

She groaned as the warm being kept brushing and pushing against her and thus pulled herself closer to the edge until she felt herself fall. She felt her head hit a clipboard full of papers that she had laid on the nightstand next to her last night and finally felt herself hit the ground with a small yelp.

"Grrr… What the hell…?" Taki, who was covered in a mess of papers that was her old essay, growled in frustration as she pulled herself up to take a look at the intruder now that she was fully awake and feeling a slight ache in her back. The sand-colored cat purred and curled up into a ball on top of the pillow that Taki had once rested and clutched upon. She narrowed her eyes at the now partially-snoring and care-free cat that slept soundly on her bed. "… Spoiled little fur-ball." She muttered as she pulled herself out of the puddle of papers that she didn't care for at the moment, stood up and looked at the mini digital clock that sat behind where her clipboard was.

She raised an eyebrow at the time it read: "Seven-fifteen in the morning? Hm, Sophitia must be gone by now." She mumbled to herself as she decided to get herself ready since her own classes would be starting soon.

Used to getting ready with her room in darkness that was sometimes disturbed by the dull city lights, she did as she always did every morning. Stepping out of her room only with brushed hair put up in its usual ponytail, the rooms and hallway were still in darkness and seemed undisturbed since last night. She glanced over to Sophitia's room at the end of the hall, curiosity now nipped at her the longer that she stared at it. 'I don't see how it would hurt…' She shrugged slightly as she crept over. With the knob in her palm she gently leaned in, trying her best to prevent a 'squeak'-like sound that did occur nonetheless but hardly noticeable anyway.

The room was about the same size as her own only a bit bigger in dimensions. Its main colors, which concerned the bed, walls and floor carpeting, were that of blue, white, silver and a touch of gold here and there, so it was quite charming to Taki's eyes, especially with the dark wood chair and desk at one corner of the room.

She did a double-take as she noticed that something was moving inside of the bed and a rhythmic rising and falling in its middle. She gulped as she noticed that there were blonde strands sprayed about a pillow outside of the blue and white sheets with a silver lining.

"He-hey, Sophitia?" She called hesitantly in a small voice as if she was afraid she might wake her even if she did call her name.

There was a low groaning sound coming from the bed. "Yes? What do you need?" She asked in a rather careless manner as fidgeted in her sheets slightly.

"Um, I don't know your schedule, so I may be wrong… but…" Taki was afraid of how this would turn out. "It's seven-fifteen. Don't you leave around six?" She asked as she leaned forward slightly.

"Wha-what are you talking about?" Sophitia asked in a yawn as she rolled over to her digital clock that was much larger and brighter than Taki's and took a hold of it as her eyes focused onto it. Her eyes suddenly snapped wide as she finally saw that Taki was right. "Oh gods!" She yelled in alarm and panic as she threw her sheets off of her and bolted towards her dark wood drawers, searching frantically through clothes. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" She asked in a scolding voice, which Taki lowered her eyebrows at.

"Hey! I just woke up myself! So don't blame me! You must have forgotten to turn your own alarm on." Taki stated as she watched that panic stricken girl with slightly amused grin.

Sophitia sharply turned to her. "Oh really?" She shouted sarcastically as she quickly turned back to collect the last of her clothes for the day and hugged them into her arms. She ran out the door with Taki quickly stepping to one side to let her pass. She ran into the bathroom which was opposite to Taki's room and slammed the door shut. Taki raised an eyebrow as she heard several sounds such as 'clutter!', 'sprinkle', 'bang!', "Ouch!", a deep growling sound of aggravation and five minutes worth of the blowing of a hairdryer. Taki couldn't help but snigger as she tried to stop herself, knowing it was quite mean.

Sophitia stumbled out of the doorway fully-clothed in long dark jeans, turquoise-colored v-neck and a close-fitting, collared dark blue sweater and neatly made hair with small canisters and brushes falling to the ground and rolling out slightly into the hallway. She ran towards the counter of the kitchen as she came out of the hallway and grabbed her book bag from the middle of three tall lightly-colored wooden chairs placed at the counter's side for breakfast-eating among other things. Of course in her rush, as she grabbed her bag, the chair nearly came down to the ground had she not caught it at the right moment.

"I'll see you when I get home; I'm usually here on Tuesdays because I don't have a class today that always gives a lot of homework, bye." With that, Sophitia ran out in haste with a slam from the door.

"Sure, fine." Taki just waved slightly even though she was already out the door. She knew that if Sophitia wasn't here then she'd be at the library, so she didn't worry if something urgent should ever come up on Sophitia's class schedule. She chuckled at Sophitia's hasty self as she turned to head back into her room to finish changing. "The girl's a hazard area in the morning." She smirked as she closed the door behind her.

Not less than twenty minutes and Taki was half-way dressed when she heard the front door swing open again, which startled her slightly as her gaze snapped to her own closed door.

"Taki!"

Taki sighed and closed her eyes in aggravation as she recognized Sophitia's upset voice. Taki just turned back to finish dressing herself in her long dark blue jeans with a black belt and a strawberry-colored t-shirt with Chinese letters on the front and a black vest before she would walk to the door to meet the angered gaze. "What?" Taki called back as she opened her door to look straight into what she had anticipated.

Sophitia stared at her in not a gaze of anger, anymore at least, but to a gaze that was very focused although somewhat annoyed onto her own brown eyes. "You left the keys in my car last night, my _locked_ car." Sophitia informed with a raise of the eyebrows at the word 'locked' and spoke in an amazingly clam voice yet seemed very serious as well, which had Taki a little more nervous especially after remembering her mistake.

"Oh… Yeah… Sorry… 'bout that." Taki spoke in simple sections as her words came to her. She looked down then snapped her eyes back up to Sophitia's gaze that looked like she was awaiting something. "So… what do you want me to do?" Taki asked as she rubbed her nape slowly. "Want me to give you a ride on my motorcy-"

"No!-no-no-no thank you!" Sophitia's eyes went wide and took a step back as she waved her hands frantically in front of her for emphasis as she spoke her rejection. "I'll just take the subway, so if you could give me two dollars for me to take it, it should be enough of a return while I pick up an extra set later." She exclaimed as she raised a palm that was already ready for payment.

Taki muttered to herself as if she was already annoyed as she reached for her wallet. "Why are you so afraid of motorcycles? They won't bite you, that is unless you handle them improperly or if you get hit by one of them, which has slim chances." Taki noted as she pulled out a dollar bill and a dollar in quarters and handed them to the younger amazonite-eyed girl, who gathered it in her hand and stuffed it into her pocket.

"I'm not afraid of them, I just don't like them. That's all!" Sophitia couldn't find the words to better explain, of course then again she didn't have time as she backed herself towards the front door.

"Yes well, perhaps I'll help you to _not_ not like them." Taki crossed her arms over her stomach as she spoke and raised an eyebrow as she waited for a good reply from her roommate.

Sophitia opened the door and stepped through. "Um hm." She replied in an unmoved tone as she shut the door but was still able to look at Taki as she spoke. To her surprise, the door opened behind her again to find Taki with her form being outlined slightly by the light that came through the balcony's glass doors that were at the opposite end of the room. "Problem?" She raised an eyebrow as she looked at the taller girl that came to where she stood with her backpack in hand.

"No, I'm just ready as well so might as well follow you." Taki exclaimed as she threw her backpack upon her shoulder and headed towards the elevator with Sophitia behind her. Taki thought about Sophitia's living standards now and was pretty neutral in opinions. She turned to the blonde with a raised eyebrow as they stepped and waited in the elevator. "You have a car yet you seem to use the subway most of the time?" Taki asked in bewilderment, not seeing a point.

Sophitia's gaze shifted from Taki's to the blinking red numbers of the floors in the elevator. "Sure; faster, on time, and chances of getting into a crash is slim." She turned to the ebony haired senior. "That's why my car insurance isn't the best." She smirked slightly as Taki did the same.

"I see your point." Taki chuckled as the elevator doors opened into the garage. Taki came to her toy and swung her leg over the seat, watching as Sophitia just rolled her eyes as she passed onto the sidewalk. With her motor running she came up to the junior who was now back into her hasty self. "Well, see you at home after your 'detention for tardiness' at school." She grinned at Sophitia's glare and with that she took off like a bandit into the streets and the morning sunlight reflecting off of her motocross helmet.

"Geez…" Was all Sophitia could mutter as she shook her head slightly. "At least she's not going on the subway _with_ me. Gods, that will be the first and last time that what happened will ever happen again!" Sophitia declared as visions of the embarrassing moments came into her head, which she tried to push out. A feeling came into mind howeveras she seemed to have 'temporarily forgotten' to push away; the feeling when her hand landed on Taki's firm but soft abdomen. To her, it was quite impressive for any girl to be diligent enough to have such high strength in that area. 'Wait…' Sophitia mentally stopped herself as her wide eyes snapped up with sudden concern. "'Firm but soft'? 'Impressive'?" Sophitia shut her eyes tightly as she felt like she could kick herself. "What is happening to me?" She ran her fingers through her hair at the top of her head in aggravation as she asked no one in particular, even though some did glance oddly at the girl who seemed to be speaking to herself.

'_B-ring!'_

She jumped as the "Canned Heat" by Jamiroquai ring tone of her, what she considered, 'outdated' cell phone startled her out of her own concerns. She sighed and rolled her eyes at her own jumpy actions as she reached for her phone and flicked it on.

"Yes-what?" She asked impatiently as she tried to calm herself at take control over her own thoughts again.

"Well 'good morning' to you too, caring sister!"

The caller's voice was quite sarcastic and was one that Sophitia knew well, which made her sigh even deeper as she rubbed her forehead with her hand as she replied in a slightly calmer tone. "Hello Cassie."

"Much better." Cassandra sounded as if she was critiquing something. "Now, sis, if you don't mind, I have to come by and pick a few things up for father. He wants to have some of his figurines back, only the gods, the goddesses he wants you to keep." She informed simply.

"Sure, I'm not doing anything and I should be home by late in the afternoon, so you can come by then." Sophitia stated informingly as she headed down the staircase towards the subway station, she could feel her calmer-self setting in.

"Alright. I'm surprised I caught you now since I know you have school, I was planning to leave a message. I'm sure you're late to that university of yours so I'll ask how you've been when I come by." Cassandra spoke as if it was a positive suggestion.

"Heh, sure." Sophitia couldn't help but smile that her seventeen-year-old sister still had concern over her elder sister's well-being. "I'll see you then. Erm, sorry for snapping at you when I answered, I've just had a lot of things on my mind, odd things." She explained sincerely as she rubbed her nape nervously, hoping Cassandra would understand.

"Mm. I believe that. So what're the things? Schoolwork?" Cassandra asked out of curiosity.

"Eh-heh." Sophitia had no idea how to answer it, nor did she even want to for that matter. "It's… uh… it's difficult to explain." She stated, hoping it would be enough.

"I see." Nope, wasn't enough, Sophitia could tell. "Well, let me know how it goes when I get to your apartment, okay? I'll see you later." With that, Sophitia bid her little sister goodbye in return and went back to paying the toll with her roommate's money. She cursed herself as she remembered that Taki was going to be there, but she shrugged as she thought that she would tell her sister later when she _wasn't _late for school.

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"Hi." Taki let her backpack drop upon the desk that was right next to Mitsurugi, who was playing the games on his cell phone with his head propped up on his arm until class started.

"Hey." He replied in a careless and tired manner. He turned to her with a raised eyebrow as if slightly surprised. "You're here early." He noted as if it was a new event.

Taki actually smirked at his note, making him become curious. "Yes, well, I had a rather busy and interesting morning." She stated as she zipped open her backpack. Her focus slowly dimmed as she heard familiar footsteps of thick heels coming from behind her and stopped right next to her. Taki slowly looked up to see her math teacher; Professor Mau, who was a woman perhaps only around six years older than herself and unmarried, so which Taki heard. Also the fact that Miss. Mau was of Egyptian origin, which could partly be seen in the facial features, tan skin and long curly ebony hair. She turned to her other long-haired pupil that was Mitsurugi and coughed warningly, telling him to put his phone away. Mitsurugi staggered and coughed apologetically as he stuffed his phone into his pocket.

The professor turned to her other Japanese pupil. "Taki, we have to talk about your grades." Professor Mau stated as she sat herself upon the desktop, which Taki and many of the other girls figured was a bad idea seeing as to how she was wearing a skirt, but of course none of the guys in the room were arguing.

All Taki did in reply was mutter the words 'Oh boy.' Taki sighed as she turned up to her teacher. "Yes, what about them?" Taki asked even though she knew what her young teacher was going to say.

"They're not the best. I think I may need to recommend a tutor for you." The professor stated as she laced her fingers together and laid them in her lap. Taki's head shot up at the mention of 'tutor'.

"T-t-tutor? B-but I don't have time for it! I-I'm already living with someone from NYU and that's time-consuming enough, believe me!" Taki tried her best to get out of this, knowing that if she couldn't, she would just have to live with having a tutor. "I'm part of the 'University Exchange'." She added just for the information for her teacher.

Professor Mau looked at her in surprise for a moment. "Really? Well, who is this person you're living with? I teach some classes over at that university." She leaned forward to hear Taki's answer better out of her own curiosity.

"Sophitia Alexandra." Taki answered simply and obediently.

The dark-haired professor pulled back slightly in even more surprise then slowly smiled. "Oh really? Huh, she's one of my best student's, top in the class and in many others, and for a junior that's pretty impressive." She noted just for extra information as she looked down to the floor in thought and Taki waited. The professor's amethyst eyes came up to hers. "She'll be your tutor then." She suddenly stated, making Taki's gaze snap straight to her own.

"W-what?" Taki had become absolutely speechless. "But-I-how?-Are you serious?" She staggered.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" She asked with a raised eyebrow while Taki slumped in her seat in defeat.

"O-okay. If I must." Taki nodded obediently but knew that this was going to be difficult; how would you ask someone you've had numerous fights with to suddenly help in tutoring you? She had no idea.

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Taki knocked upon Sophitia's door, grumbling to herself about how she didn't have a key of her own. To her surprise, Sophitia answered the door and stood aside to let her in with a small 'Hi.'.

"No detention?" Taki asked with a smirk as she came up to the kotatsu and dropped her bag next to where she sat underneath it and noticed that the heating blanket was turned on. She looked up to see her roommate give her a glare as she sat opposite of where Taki sat, which was facing the balcony doors.

"For your information, I hardly am ever late so I didn't get a detention but a warning." She stated as she leaned her folded arms onto the table top as she leaned forward. "So… I have to tutor you?" She informed in a small voice as if she didn't like the idea herself.

"Uh, yeah." Taki's eyes darted slightly in nervousness of what Sophitia's answer might be. "Professor Mau told you?" She asked, suddenly wondering how she knew.

"Yep, after school." Sophitia answered with a simple nod. "And you _really_ need it, I mean even look at you now: your grades are the worst I've seen in years and you hardly have a penny to your name! So which I can tell, anyway." Sophitia's voice was low on her last sentence as if it was a mental note. "And it's not only one subject but half of them that you keep failing!" She spoke as if the were incredible feats.

Taki furrowed her eyebrows at her even though she was slight wide-eyed from Sophitia's statement as it was all true. "How do you know about my grades?" She asked suspiciously.

"The professor pulled them up for me to look at." Sophitia stated bluntly. "So I think that tutoring may be a good idea for you. I'll see how it goes, if you can really pay attention to what I tell you." Sophitia's statement made Taki pull back in surprise then smile faintly.

"Sure, of course. Better grades mean that my opportunity to get into NYU will come closer. Now if only I could remember that during the boredom of my classes." Taki noted as she ran a hand up and down the side of her face as the memories of her classes came to her.

"Yes, that may be helpful." Sophitia raised an eyebrow as she spoke with criticism. "Do you have your things so that we could possibly get started?" She asked as she massaged her own collarbone, trying to get the pain from carrying her heavy backpack out of her shoulders.

"Yep. Some stuff." Taki answered in a sigh as she reached inside her backpack.

'_Knock-knock'_ "Hey sis! You home?"

Sophitia's eyes went wide with worry as she heard her youngersisterthrough the front door that didn't open. "Uh-erm, just a sec!" She called back as she hastily took Taki's backpack and hid it behind the couch.

"What're you doing?" Taki asked in bewilderment. Sophitia suddenly clasped her hand over Taki's mouth.

"Shhh. It's my sister; I completely forgot that she was coming over today." She informed in a low voice.

Taki raised an eyebrow at her. "So, what's the problem?"

"She lives with the rest of my family and she likes to give away information. My dad likes to know everything about what I'm doing and who I might be living with and I can't stand it. He doesn't really trust a whole lot of people and I don't want to put the burden on you. So you have to hide underneath the kotatsu for me until she leaves." She explained, worried that her sister might be growing impatient.

"What?" Taki tried to keep her voice low. Sophitia places a hand on Taki's face and her other hand on her shoulder as she pushed her underneath the small table.

"Just get under!" She shouted in a forced whisper as another knock on the door was heard. "It's open!" She called as she sat herself underneath the kotatsu in a nonchalant fashion,although she couldfeel her legs touch Taki's curled body.

"Hey." Cassandra waved slightly as she came through the door, wearing her usual rather tomboyish attire with at least a feminine top. "So where are the figurines?" She asked as her gaze swept across the room as if she already knew where they were.

"In the cupboard next to my desktop." Sophitia answered, trying to settle the struggling woman underneath the table.

'Geez it's hot under here! She likes this thing way too much! I can hardly breathe!' Taki thought as she fought against Sophitia's long legs. 'Man, where's that dial? I need to turn the heat down a few dozen notches.' As Taki slowly became dizzy and breathless from the lack of air, her fingers went towards the closest opening to feel around the blanket to find the round dial. She didn't care as she felt her knuckles brush against Sophitia's legs as she continued to search.

"W-wh-what the?" Sophitia stammered in a low voice as she felt something lightly brush against her shins then lower thigh. 'What is she doing?' Sophitia questioned with darting eyes.

"You sure they're in here?" Cassandra suddenly asked as she searched through the small cupboard.

"Oh yes, just keep looking." Sophitia answered a bit too quickly as her mind was more focused on Taki's traveling fingers through her jeans. She tried to hold back her small blush so that her sister wouldn't become suspicious if she happened to look at her. The room was a little dark but had its lights on so she knew that her little sister would notice something amiss.

'Argh! Where is the damn thing?' Taki was slowly becoming fed up with aimless searching. She reached for the spot at her side that she would've remembered it to be and hit something but it certainly wasn't the dial as Sophitia's legs, which were perpendicular to her own body, suddenly tightened around her top half, crushing her slightly and becoming even more cramped within her small space.

"Ah!" Sophitia gasped and blushed profusely as she felt something weakly jab high into her inner thigh and gave her the reflex of hunching over slightly while her eyes widened and her hands snapped down towards where the feeling occurred. She felt Taki's hands which were quite warm due to the heat beneath and let out a low, deep growl in embarrassed anger.

"Sis, are you alright?" Cassandra's question made Sophitia's eyes snap to hers. Her younger, short-haired sister looked at her with concern. "You look kind of … uh, flustered." She noted as she cocked her head to one side and furrowed her eyebrows with question.

"Oh s-sure, heh, I-I'm fine! Never b-better, swear!" Sophitia stammered as she tried to push Taki's hands away, although the Asian woman trapped around her legs seemed to be reluctant to bring her hands back, it was as if Taki _wanted_ to keep embarrassing her like this.

'What's she doing now? I only want to turn the damn heat down!' Taki complained to herself as she fought against Sophitia's fingers that held her back from finding the dial. 'Ugh! That's it! I'm going to get some air.' Taki pushed her way through where she figured the dial was as she knew that going out through the other sides would mean Sophitia's sister catching sight of her.

Sophitia gasped again as she felt Taki push towards her then at the same time watched her sister draw near as well. She saw the top of Taki's long ebony hair emerge from beneath the blanket and quickly pushed her hands down upon Taki's head to keep her beneath the blanket. The sports-lover seemed so determined in breaking through to the outside that Sophitia had to cross her legs tightly over the Asian's head to give her hands more weight.

'Gah! Get back under there!' Sophitia yelled in her head at the 'gopher' of a woman beneath her who tried to pop out. Her attention turned as she felt Cassandra place her hand upon her shoulder.

"Uh, you know sis, if you have to go to the bathroom, don't let me be the one stopping you just because I'm here." Cassandra smirked as Sophitia shot up to look at her with her wide eyes. She looked back down to notice the position she was in.

"I-it's not that; I'm just a little cold that's all." Sophitia lied in an uneasy voice as she looked away and hunched over even more to hide her hands from being seen upon jet black hair.

Taki felt her face being pressed into the carpet by Sophitia's hands. 'C-can't breathe! What in the hell is she doing?Is shetrying to suffocate me?' Taki shouted angrily in her head as she fought against Sophitia's hands and legs.

Sophitia silently gasped as she felt Taki wiggle and move her head roughly against her and in a place that she would've never have picked if it were up to her. The harder she tried to hold the Asian woman down, the rougher Taki became. Sophitia could feel her face being to boil as she blushed horribly; her head almost looked like a cherry. 'Taki stop!' She almost shouted aloud as she closed her eyes tightly and tried to calm her own rapidly beating heart until she felt her younger sister place a hand on her forehead.

"Well no wonder you feel cold Sophie; your head is getting warmer by the second! I think you're getting a fever." Cassandra stated as she moved her hand to check the side of her elder sister's face.

'Gee, I wonder why.' Sophitia thought sarcastically as she shot a terrible glare towards Taki's direction.

"Let me get you a cold washcloth to put on your head." Cassandra suggested as she went off into the kitchen.

Sophitia found this as the right time to perform a proper scolding as she raised the blanket cover to find the sweat-covered face of Taki gasping in what air she could as it seeped into the kotatsu. "What in Hades do you think you're doing?" Sophitia whispered harshly as her face was still in a flush even though her expression looked almost insane with embarrassment and panic as her sister was opening and closing cupboards looking for a washcloth.

Taki looked up at her furiously. "Well _excuse_ me if I happen to be tangled between your _thighs_ and I can hardly breathe within this _volcano_ of a study tabl-Ack!" Taki yelped as Sophitia suddenly shoved the heel of her foot into Taki's face to hide her again as Cassandra came over to with a damp washcloth and gently wiped her forehead with it asthough _she _was the protective and caring elder sister.

"I got all the figurines and I guess I should just leave you be to get better." Cassandra stated in a soft tone as she looked at her sister with worry in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." 'Please leave, please leave!' Sophitia thought hopefully and ecstatically. Cassandra came up and hugged her elder sister gently, which made Sophitia soften in her arms as she wrapped her arms around in return but keeping her legs upon Taki's head in case she had any sudden impulses. "I'll see you later." She spoke as she rubbed her little sister's back.

"Alright." Cassandra returned as they broke apart and she headed for the door, carrying a shoebox full of white and colored figurines. She waved once as she walked out and shut the door behind her.

'_GASP'_ Taki suddenly sprung out from underneath the kotatsu with a gasp so deep it was almost equivalent to the gasp that she made when Sophitia showed her her brother's dirty magazines. The older woman suddenly looked like she lost all strength and fell on top of the smaller girl below her.

Sophitia gasped as Taki fell on her and as she fell to the ground due to Taki's weight. She moved and struggled slightly underneath the somewhat listless woman. "W-w-would you mind getting off of me?" Sophitia asked with a raised eyebrow, feeling the taller girl heave from the lack of air she was previously given. All she heard in return was a groan as Taki rubbed her rapidly swelling cheek, which was caused by Sophitia's heel.

'_Click-crreeaak'_ "On second though sis, maybe I should stay just to keep an-…"

Both Sophitia and Taki froze as the door was opened and the younger of the Alexandra sisters came in again, who stopped as she saw her older sister and a strange Asian woman half-underneath the kotatsu and half-lying on top of her sister. Cassandra just blinked her wide eyes then slowly grinned deviously and so widely that it began to look Cheshire. " Heh heh. Looks like I should keep an eye on you for more than one reason, dear and innocent sister." Her tone was very deep and mischievous as she spoke. She shook her head slightly as if disappointed. "This explains your flushed face, the positions you were in and how shifty and jerky you were. Wow, what a dirty older sister I have." She chuckled evilly.

Sophitia's mouth dropped open at what her sister seemed to be thinking. "It's not what you think! I swear I'm not like that!" She defended as she forcefully pushed Taki off of her and waved a hand frantically in front of her as if she thought it would help.

Cassandra seemed unmoved as she raised the eyebrow of her evil eye. "Uh huh, so tell me sis, were you just reaching your climax? Would you like me to wait in the hallway while you finish up?" She asked calmly as if it didn't bother her.

Sophitia's eyes went wide. "How dare you think that? I-I-I-we-we weren't doing anything!" She stammered yet proclaimed in a horror-stricken tone as she noticed that Taki was leaning up beside her and seemed to be just noticing what was going on. She had it in mind to slap Taki on the back of the head for just noticing this.

"Okay, okay! I heard you the first time, Geez!" Cassandra rolled her eyes as she came forward. "I just love to tease you. I knew you'd never do anything like that and I already knew that you had a roommate since yesterday." She explained as she began to stare at Taki's swelling cheek, whichAsian held it beneath her fingers.

"You knew? How?" Sophitia looked at her in bewilderment. How would this information be obtainable was a question that she didn't think anyone would be able to answer.

"Mina." The short-haired blonde answered simply with a faint half-smile.

"Oh." The older Alexandra sister was quite speechless as she looked up to the ceiling in thought but didn't move her head. 'I should've seen that coming; she loves to say more than she should at times.' Her thoughts were interrupted by Taki's groan.

"Did you have to kick me so hard?" The brown-eyed woman groaned as she rubbed her cheek painfully. Sophitia sighed slightly as she stood up to go to the kitchen.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to." Sophitia spoke honestly as she pulled out a steak to help Taki's cheek heal better and faster. "Don't tell father about Taki yet, Cassie. I'll tell him later; I don't want him to go snooping about in my apartment or Taki's life just to make sure that I'm safe." She explained as she softened up the meat under hot water and came back into the living room to find both Cassandra and Taki watching her as they both sat at the kotatsu being across from each other.

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at her then suddenly furrowed both of them as if suddenly upset. "Don't trust my mouth or my judgment, big sister?" Sophitia looked at her with concern and soft eyes as her dear younger sister seemed a little hurt. The face that her sister would give her when she became this way always tore her apart; she never wanted to see her sister hurt, especially when she herself was the cause.

"Cassie, I just don't want you to start something that would be between father and myself; you know how traditional and picky he can be. It has nothing to do with you, I swear it." Sophitia's tone was so soft and so sincere that Taki believed that the most mistrusting person in the world would believe her. The elder Alexandra gently brushed the younger's bangs behind her ear. Cassandra hesitantly looked up into the green eyes that were a little lighter and vibrant than her own and nodded.

"Alright,asthe older sister I trust your judgment." Cassandra stated as she looked back down to her feet. "I just wish you'd trust me just as much." She added in a small tone that still caused what felt like a dagger piercing into Sophitia's heart.

The elder sister sighed softly before she inched her way over to her sister who just seemed to ignore her until she wrapped an arm around the short-haired girl's shoulder. "I do trust you, and to make you feel better I promise that I'll never hide anything from you except the clothes from my wardrobe that you always liked to sneak in and 'borrow'." She added with a raised eyebrow as her sister looked at her timidly by apologetically as she mentioned that fact.

Cassandra brought up the courage to look her sister in the eye and smile faintly. "Thanks, I guess." She chuckled slightly as she finished and let her caring sister scoop her up into her arms and into a hug.

"Aw, wow. Now that's cute." Taki suddenly spoke up with a grin that was difficult if not impossible to keep in. Cassandra just looked at her and blinked with semi-furrowed eyes as Sophitia glared at her and her remark, making Taki pull back slightly as if Sophitia had the idea that she was being sarcastic. "What? I wish my little sister and I were like that." She stated in her own defense as it was true anyway.

Sophitia softened slightly and didn't say anything as she released her sister, scooted over towards Taki and slapped the meat lightly upon the Asian's red cheek and eye. Taki yelped slightly at the impact and slowly relaxed as she glanced at Sophitia, who held the steak in place as she laid a hand gently over the Greek's as if to support it in holding the meat.

"Well anyway, as I was saying before I… interrupted you two, _hem-hem_." Cassandra teased as she smirked at Sophitia's wide-eyed reaction. "I think I better stay here, it's late anyway. Is that alright with you, sis? Even though I may actually _need_ to borrow some of your night clothes for tonight?" She raised an eyebrow in a rather confident fashion.

Sophitia nodded slowly; now back to her patient self. She turned to Taki with a raised eyebrow. "Is that alright with you?"

Taki merely shrugged; it's not like she had a choice in the matter anyway, that she knew. "Of course; she's your sister, it's not like I can just turn her down." She stated as she took full control of the steak before Sophitia thanked her with a nod and led Cassandra to her temporary room. Taki placed her unoccupied hand behind her head and leaned backward slightly as her gaze swept across the room. "Well, that was an interesting tutoring session." She smirked.

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Taki tried to ignore the throbbing and burning sensation within her cheek as she tried to make herself fall asleep somehow. Sophitia and Cassandra went to bed half an hour before, which she spent watching 'anything good' on the television and laying on the couch. She smirked slightly at the look Sophitia gave her before she went to bed; it was a suspicious or questionable one as if she was afraid that she would try and steal something from the apartment.

'What is there to steal anyway?' Taki thought with a confusedly raised eyebrow. 'And why would I? I live here!' She thought it over for a minute before she ultimately shrugged as she closed her eyes, held her sheets closer to herself and rolled onto her side.

The memory of Cassandra and Sophitia flashed into her mind, making her open her eyes again in a soft and dreamy-like fashion. 'That's the first time I've seen her act so… sincere and caring, it's rather nice and easing when you see her that way. It's almost charming and sweet in a way.' Taki thought as Sophitia's face when she looked at her sister came into her mind.

Her thoughts were suddenly pushed aside as she heard her door creak open then unevenly-taken steps across the carpet and felt the chill of the air as the covers were raised to let the… whatever it may be… into her bed. She jumped as she felt the being press against her back.

'W-w-what the…?' Taki raised an eyebrow out of panic as the being rubbed against her. 'Could it be that damn cat? Lord, will it never let me rest while I'm here?' Taki's original idea was scratched as she realized that the person was against the whole of her backside and their hands were roaming along her sides and back. 'W-who could be…?' Taki gasped as another thought came to her. 'Sophitia? Could it be her?' Her eyes began to dart as she thought for reasons and explanations. 'It has to be her! I mean, would that be the reason why she looked at me earlier? Did she want to know what it was like to be in bed with me? A Japanese sports-lover?' Taki was now thoroughly confused; it didn't make sense; Sophitia didn't seem _that_ impulsive.

"Ack!" The person pressed herself harder against Taki, making her eyes go wide in panic as she gasped. 'That's it!' Taki suddenly turned herself over and raised herself above the intruder. She looked down at a blonde-haired girl with furrowed, serious eyes. "Sophitia! Is there a reason why-…?" Taki stopped as she noticed that the girl's hair was much shorter then the other girl whom she had anticipated. "Cass… Cassandra?" She was now beyond confused.

Indeed it was Cassandra, though Taki could tell she was asleep and still rolling around on the bed while murmuring something in a sweet tone. 'She was asleep the whole time? Why'd she come into my room? Surely she was looking for Sophitia's room.'

Her thoughts were abruptly pushed to one side as her door flung open with Sophitia in its frame. "What in the world are you yelling abou-…?" Sophitia stopped as she stared with eyes that seemed as of they didn't believe what they were seeing.

Taki froze at the way Sophitia looked at them and at the position Cassandra and she were in; Taki's leg was in between Cassandra's while her eyes were closed in a peaceful sleep. Taki snapped up to see that Sophitia's eyes were now dangerously furrowed. "It's… It's not what you think. R-really." The masculine older woman slowly became nervous at what Sophitia might do.

"Really?" Sophitia didn't seem very moved from what Taki said as she cocked her head to one side as if she was about ready to criticize. "Well it can't be very far from what I'm thinking!" She proclaimed angrily and almost vengefully.

Taki pulled back as she got off of Cassandra. "I wasn't doing anything!" She defended loudly.

"Mmm. Love you, big sister." Cassandra suddenly murmured as she rolled onto her other side and clutched a pillow close to her while not waking up, much to their surprise. Taki slowly looked up at Sophitia, who's eyes were incredibly soft as she kept her eyes upon her younger sister. Her eyes darted as she looked back up towards Taki's, who waited for Sophitia to say something because she had no idea what to say herself.

"Could… Would you mind…" Sophitia couldn't get the words out but Taki had already understood as she nodded and gently lifted Cassandra into her arms. She carried her into Sophitia's room and placed her into Sophitia's bed, where she would stay for the rest of the night.

Taki hesitantly looked up to Sophitia, who stood at her bedside next to her sleeping sister. "Does she do things to you while you're asleep, or at least try to?" Taki asked out of curiosity.

Sophitia nodded slightly. "Like cling to you? Yes, but there are reasons." Sophitia glanced at her, as if suddenly timid. "I'll explain in the morning. Sorry about nearly accusing you of… well, you know, with my sister." She suddenly mentioned in a small tone but sincere nonetheless.

Taki glanced at her as she turned. "No problem, these things seem to happen all the time lately, so I'm used to it." She winked at Sophitia as she walked out the door, noting Sophitia's small smirk as she did so. She sighed heavily as she closed the door behind her, only to become tense again as she noticed that the laid-back sandy cat was sprawled across her bed, purring away. "Great… just great." Taki rubbed her hand along her face tiredly as she spoke in a low and pitiful tone.

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The next few chapters will be fun to both write and read :) The next chapter for ANE will come out soon, after all, it is a bit longer and I need to make sure that everything important fits together nicely within the chapter. Sorry if the whole Taki-under-the-table scene was a bit much to read, but I hope it was funny for you :) I also hope you liked how I put Cassandra's character and the feelings she had for her sister.

To Witch-Hunter 51: I hope you liked this update :) I'm glad you liked the magazines, I thought they'd be a good addition to the comedy.

To cococashu: For Yunsung, I've already had a few ideas for him in the story, so I hope you like them when I bring him in. The arguments between Taki and Sophie will have a reason as I will make them show and tell why later. By the way, just because you don't have any medals, it doesn't mean that I think of you as a loser in any way :) I thought people would like the magazine bit and I'm glad you did. The whole Kitsune thing will be brought in by the next chapter and I'm hoping that it'll get a big laugh by what Sophitia's reaction will be. I hope you liked this one :)

To Lokiador: I hope this chapter was satisfactory if not good and funny for you :)

To mentalretard: The name Haitani and the subway scene did come from Love Hina as the meaning and idea of the Japanese word Kitsune as well. I know, I love that manga/anime as well; I have all the mangas and dvds. As you may have noticed, scenes from Love Hina were in this one as well, but that may be the last of it; I don't want to copy too many things. I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you liked this one as well :)

To reika45: More funny and meaningful scenes will come so that should make the story more interesting to read for you and the others. I'm glad you liked the subway scene, I thought the reactions would be funny for the reader. I hope you liked how the characters worked in this one.

To Rain54: The arguments, I understand how you feel about those, so for the other readers as well as yourself, the arguments will be 'softened' so to say, the characters will explain their reasons for acting the way they do in later chapters. But I hope you liked this one :)


	4. Children at Play

I'm really sorry this one took so long, I had midterms for a whole week so I didn't have any time to write at least not much. Plus I had to take out two pages worth of a scene out because I didn't like it and had to rewrite pages in its place. This semester should be easier and a little more laid back for me because I have more study halls that I can easily use for writing :D

Do not own SC characters.

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Chapter 4: Children at Play

Taki grumbled as she rolled herself out from underneath the sandy cat's outstretched body that had laid sprawled across Taki's stomach. The woman let herself fall out of her bed carelessly and let her eyes meet Ember's, which held confusion out of Taki's action as she stood up. It was as if the cat's begging eyes held enough emotion to make her owner's roommate drag her feet back into bed to be the feline's cushion for the rest of the day.

Taki chuckled slightly then gave the pleading cat a 'no-no' gesture with her finger. "Oh-no you don't. Don't look at me that way; be happy I let you sleep there the entire night and not clawing at my door to let you in." She stated with a smirk as the sandy cat rolled on her back, playfully exposing her belly. It kept eye contact with Taki and replied with a squeak-like "meow". Taki laughed slightly at how determined the cat appeared to be as she grabbed her clothes from the drawers she placed them in. In ten minutes flat she had long, baggy, midnight-blue jeans and a very dark blue t-shirt on and fit comfortably then brushed her ebony hair and put it up in its usual ponytail with a red tie. "Nice try." She commented with a smile to the posing cat that still lay upon her bed.

She opened the door to go to the kitchen only to nearly bump into Sophitia, who was totally dressed and didn't seem in a bug rush, much to Taki curiosity. "You're up early." Sophitia noted in a slightly surprised tone as she walked around the taller girl towards the kitchen.

Taki's eyes furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?" She asked as she turned to follow the girl that wore long, regular-colored blue jeans and a well-fit purple t-shirt with a light oceanic v-neck collar. She sat herself in one of the tall wooden chairs behind the kitchen counter while Sophitia went in.

The blonde looked at her strangely as she lifted a small but deep pan off of one of the hooks that held the other differently sized pans over the stove. "It's nearly six-twenty. Don't you get up later than me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she poured water from the sink into the pan.

Taki blinked once as she watched the girl boil the water. The older woman leaned to peer around the blonde's form to the stove's digital clock. Her eyes widened slightly in disbelief to finally discover the numbers "6:18". "Uhn… great." She groaned as she rubbed her forehead and eyes with her hand as if the sleeplessness was pouring back into her body. "It must have been your extra-friendly cat." She noted as she looked back to Sophitia, who had already laid a white mug of tea on the counter in front of her.

Sophitia laughed slightly as she sat herself on a stool across Taki with her own grey mug in her hand, "She likes you that much does she?" She asked with an amused smile as Taki continued to stare at the transparent steam cascading out of the cup with a bored expression.

"Mm. And I leap for joy because of that." Taki stated sarcastically complete with a smile as she looked back up to Sophitia, who smirked slightly. The Asian sat herself up in her chair as she rolled her shoulders and neck then laced her fingers together as she leaned her chin on them as she leaned on her elbows onto the marble counter. "So…" The brown-eyed woman started with a yawn. "How did your sister sleep last night? Did she cling to you at all?" She asked with a raised eyebrow of curiosity.

Sophitia kept her eyes on Taki's as she slowly strummed her nails rhythmically against her mug as she held the hot cup in her palms. "She slept like a log. And no, she didn't cling to me much." She answered as she took a small sip. By the way Taki's eyes kept upon her own, she could tell she was eventually going to rub the subject in.

"Oh good." Taki started with a smile and a positive tone. "Well then, could you explain last night's escapade to me? I mean, not to sound con-descending or anything of the sort." Taki leaned on one elbow and ran a finger across the blue and green marble countertop in a seamless fashion as she continued. "And of course not that I really minded the whole 'sneaking into my room then in between my sheets' thing." Taki started speaking in gestures with her hands as she spoke, making the younger girl quirk an eyebrow. "Then pressing and rubbing herself against my back along with her fingers running down it and at my sides. Feeling her cling to me more than static-filled clothing…" Taki stopped as she looked up to Sophitia that, much to the young scholar's nervousness, held worry and slight suspicion as she leaned slightly towards her. "What'd you do to not have her cling to you? Tie her up and leave her on the edge of the bed?" She as if it was a question that she would never find the answer to.

Sophitia pulled back nearly dumbfounded with shock at Taki's ridiculous question. "Of course I didn't!" She defended rather loudly as she leaned forward with semi-furrowed eyebrows, making Taki lean back into her original position. Sophitia sighed then leaned back again as and let her eyes land on her mug before she spoke. "Cassandra's always been that way, ever since she was little." She explained as she traced the cup's rim with her finger. "The room I gave you used to be my old room. I switched only because of floor space." Taki nodded understandinglyas she listened. "She was probably half-asleep when she came into your room and forgot that I'd changed it and was too tired to even notice the difference between you and me." She noted as she brought the mug's rim to her lips and took a sip, followed by Taki as she remembered that she hadn't touched hers yet and enjoyed the soft taste of it, wishing that she had tried it before. "When she was little and I was still living at my parent's house, she would just jump into bed with me at odd times. Either because she claimed she wasn't tired and wanted to play, or when she was little enough that she was afraid of the dark or of thunderstorms, or when she felt lonely and just wanted to sleep with me." Sophitia looked down and smiled slightly as if the memories were coming back to her.

"So, what did you do this time?" Taki asked in a soft yet curioustone as she imagined the times Sophitia had with her sister. Sophitia's eyes snapped up to hers for a moment before she blinked and took another sip.

"Well, whenever she'd start to cling to me, I'd just turn around and hold her in return. That generally makes her stop." She answered simply as she leaned on her arms.

Taki'sgrin slowly widened and she looked down then back up again. "Huh. Well then, I'll make sure to keep that in mind, should that ever happen again at least." She took a swig after she spoke to try and hold back her grin. Sophitia raised an eyebrow at her and narrowed her eyes slightly although Taki could see a small smirk in her face as she looked away.

"Anyway…" Sophitia diverted, smiling as she closed her eyes slightly and turned to Taki before she opened her eyes again. "What about your tutoring sessions?"

"Oh Kami..." Taki sighed and hung her head as she brought up the subject.

"Well you have to start sometime!" Sophitia edged with a raised eyebrow as she leaned forward.

"Yes I know, but I hardly got any sleep last night and… can't we start next week?" Taki asked in an almost pleading voice.

Sophitia sighed as she stood up and placed her now-empty mug in the sink. "I need to see how you are now and what you're doing in your classes." She explained as she turned back to Taki but didn't sit down as she leaned her backside against the edge of the sink-bearing counter. "At least let mesee what you're learning now so that I can figure out how to help you with it." She suggested in a low tone.

"I'm not that dense to not pay _any_ attention in class, you know." Taki stated broadly as if she thought the younger girl was mocking her with her suggestion.

"We shall see." Sophitia smirked slightly as she joked. "My school day ends about the same time as yours, I'll come to your school and I'll look through your binders in your locker to see what you're doing." She stated as if she suddenly made up her decision.

"Isn't that kind of an invasion of privacy?" Taki tested as she raised an eyebrow, which Sophitia returned.

"What's so private about something you learn everyday?" She returned as she seemed confident that Taki wouldn't have an answer to that.

Taki's eyebrows furrowed in slight frustration as she stood up from her tall chair. "Alright then, I'll let you search through my stuff." Taki agreed but in a testy tone which Sophitia narrowed her eyes at.

"Well, thank you for your cooperation my new pupil and roommate!" She returned in the same tone.

'_SWING-BAM!'_ "Sister-dearest! In case you haven't noticed, _normal_ people are trying to SLEEP!"

Sophitia and Taki turned to the hallway as they heard Cassandra's scolding. Sophitia's lips tensed into apologetic frown while Taki couldn't help but snigger at her sister's forceful bluntness.

"Sorry Cassie." Sophitia spoke as she came out of the kitchen and looked at her aggravated sister's face. She smiled apologetically. Cassandra rubbed her hand over her face and groaned as she headed back into her sister's room to catch up on her sleep. Sophitia looked down as she remembered something then spoke before her sister could close the door. "Actually sis, it's good that you're up because then I can take you over to our parents' house."

"Aww, c'mon. Do I have to? And so early? Can't I just stay here? I don't have school today; American holiday, remember?" Cassandra asked in a pleading/whining voice that Sophitia had heard many times before and was used to it by now.

Sophitia sighed. "I would, in the case that you don't have school, but you don't have any clothes to wear here. Nor do you have anything to do anyway, besides watch TV or something." She stated to her sister, whose eyes darted as she knew what her elder sister was right.

"Oh, alright. But can I at least come back when you're done? It's so dull over there. I like being with you. I mean, Lucius is okay to be with, but he's always busy with his friends and he's nowhere as fun as you. Take last night for example." Cassandra grinned as Sophitia gave her a glare as she knew what she was referring tobut couldn't help but smile at her sister's sweetness.

"I'll see what I can do." Sophitia laughed slightly as she looked away and gathered her things and put them in her bag. "Get ready though, so that I can be on time for school." She reminded as she looked for anything that she may be missing.

"By the way, I promised my little sister that I would take her to this new place in Midtown by Central Park. It's an arcade place; "The Arena". It's supposed to be a three-story building." Taki noted hesitantly, hoping that Sophitia wouldn't be too put off by this. "If you'd like to go, you can. My brother's will be there as well."

"Oh I'd love to!" Cassandra suddenly spoke up excited, making Sophitia's eyes snap to hers. "C'mon sis, you know I love video games, and as you said, I would have nothing to do today but stick around the apartment. Just take me with you." She suggested excitedly as she clung to her elder sister's waist in a tight hung that nearly left Sophitia with hardly any oxygen in her lungs.

Sophitia looked at her for a moment then sighed with what little air she had.Her face screwed slightly as shewedged her little sister's arms off her. "Alright. Perhaps while our sister's are playing their games I can take a look at your school stuff. Unless it would be too bothersome for you since I know you have a large family." Sophitia considered, making Taki pull back in slight surprise at how she sounded, and so early in the morning.

Taki blinked while in speechlessness. "Uh-err no, I don't mind, and I'm sure my siblings won't either." 'Especially Haitani.' Taki thought with a raised eyebrow as the image of his perverted sense of humor came into her mind; she grimaced the more she saw.

"How old is this 'little' sister of yours?" Cassandra asked both curiously and suspiciously. Taki could tell that she didn't want to be with anyone else that was younger than her.

Taki smiled reassuringly. "Sixteen." She answered simply. Cassandra smiled as if intrigued.

"Oh? Great.A year older than me." Cassandra spoke aloud yet thoughtfully as if she herself didn't realize it.The short-haired girl looked up to Taki with pleading eyes. "You don't mind if I come, do you?"

"Of course not. And I'm sure my sister will love your competitiveness, my eighteen-year-old brother, Haitani, especially." Taki's eyes darted over to the side. "Then again, stay away from him." She added in a low tone. Sophitia smirked, knowing what Taki was referring to. Cassandra beamed as she ran into Sophitia's room and shut the door behind her to change as if she thought it would speed up time.

Taki turned to Sophitia with a pleased smile. "Uh, this may sound a bit self-centered and lazy on my behalf, but could you take a look at my things when we get back from the arcade? I have a feeling that we won't be having time to go over anything while we're over there." Taki asked as she spun her revolving chair so that she could stand.

"Very true." Sophitia immediately agreed as she could already see the day before her in her mind as she walked around the room to gather her books and notebooks. They could hear 'thump's and, strangely, 'clang's coming from Sophitia's bedroom.

"I could take her home if you want. Then she can rest a little longer before I have to leave." Taki suggested politely as she went inside the kitchen to place her mug in the sink with Sophitia's.

"Uh, thank you for asking, but you ride a motorcycle. I don't want my little sis to get hurt." Sophitia stated as she zipped up her bag. "No matter _how_ good of a driver you may be." She added before Taki could speak in her defense.

"Okay fine. But one of these days I'm going to take _you_ on a ride on it and with my driving skills, I'll make sure you love it." Taki proclaimed confidently as she watched Sophitia swing her backpack over her shoulder then look back at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"I'm sure you will." She smirked as she heard her bedroom door being opened with her yawning sister coming to her side while wearing the same clothes that she wore the day before. Sophitia looked down to find that she was holding a box the size of four shoeboxes in her arms. "What's that?" She asked as she blinked at the cardboard box.

"What do you think? The Greek god figurines that dad wanted, the reason I came here in the first place." Cassandra answered as if it was a no-brainer while Sophitia gasped slightly and pulled the box higher into Cassandra's arms.

"Be careful with those! If you break them father will maim the both of us." Sophitia warned as she made Cassandra hold the box tighter.

"Yes, I know that quite well, thank you." Cassandra spoke in a sarcastic tone as she followed her sister towards the door around the kitchen.

"Uh." Taki stopped them hesitantly with a hand rubbing her nape nervously. "Since you'll be taking your car to drop your sister off and driving yourself to school this time, could you pick me up from my college? Then I don't have to take my motorcycle and I can show you the way there. My brothers are taking my sister there so it's not like you have to pick them up." Taki reassured before Sophitia could find any reasons to disagree. Sophitia sighed as she was cornered and nodded slowly. "Great! I'll see you in the school lobby of Marymount Manhattan College, I suppose?" Taki double-checked as she made herself a bowl of cereal, seeing as to how she would never have time to eat when she got to her college cafeteria due to the lines full of students.

Sophitia let Cassandra go ahead of her as she looked at Taki as she busied herself with her breakfast. "MMC? Sure. I'll meet you there." She nodded as she grabbed the handle and pulled the door shut behind her sister and herself. 'Marymount Manhattan College? I've heard of that college before, but where…?'

"Hey, sis! Are you coming or what?" Cassandra called as she pushed the "Down" button on the elevator then leaned against the wall.

Sophitia's thoughts snapped to Cassandra as she walked over to her, although her eyes darted as the whole mystery of her remembering the Marymount Manhattan College.

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Taki dropped her back on her desk next to Mitsurugi, who had his feet up on the desk and was half-asleep in his chair until she harshly slammed down the back legs of her chair against the ground when she pulled the chair back to sit in it. She sniggered as Mitsurugi woke up with a start.

"Well, well. Aren't you on the up-and-up today? And so early too, having fifteen minutes before class starts."

Taki looked around to find Professor Mau grinning over her. Her grin slowly faded as she continued to look at her female Japanese pupil then cocked her head to one side. "So, did you and Miss Alexandra set a date for tutoring?" She asked with much interest.

"Yes we did." Taki answered politely with a small nod. "We tried to start yesterday, actually, but we had some… distractions which led to dilemmas which led to a hard night's sleep." Taki stated in a 'step-by-step' fashion.

"Which led to pain I see. What happened to your eye?" Professor Mau asked as she took Taki's chin with her fingers to observe the red area.

Taki looked at her quizzically, then suddenly remembered as she shook her head and tried to explain. "It's kind of a long story and pretty hard to explain. But to summarize, I was accidentally kicked in the face by 'Miss Alexandra'." Taki explained as she sniggered inwardly at the formality of "Miss Alexandra". "She gave me a steak to help heal it so it wasn't like she did it on purpose." She reassured.

Professor Mau looked at her for a second, as if she wasn't buying it. "Well, okay. I'm glad she did that for you. It doesn't seem to be too bad; perhaps it'll be gone in two days." The long, curly-haired professor estimated as she turned to observe the class to see who was here.

Taki fell into her seat and breathed in slowly as she looked toward Mitsurugi. "Doing anything today?" She was rather curious to know what it was like to have a leisurely day with out siblings and roommates.

"I'm going to "The Arena"." He shrugged slightly as he laced his fingers together and laid his hands up on his head lazily. "I've been there for the last couple of days. It has a great bar." He stated as though it wasn't anything important anymore.

Taki raised an eyebrow. "Really? You go there? Hm. Well, great. I'm going to be there today. Perhaps you can meet my new roommate." She suggested.

Mitsurugi looked at her then smirked slightly. "Uh-sure." He nodded, and then positioned his head to go straight as he close his eyes to rest them for a moment. "I hope she isn't dull." He added as if it was just a thought.

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Taki sat in the front seat with her arm leaning on the window ledge. Cassandra sat in back with her headphones on with a bass that could be heard when at any part of the car. Sophitia sat in basically the opposite position of Taki with her eyes darting over to her Asian roommate who had been silent apart from telling her where to go.

"I said I was sorry that I was late picking you up!" Sophitia suddenly blurted with the annoyance of silence sinking in. "I told you that I hated driving in the city so late in the afternoon. The traffic is murder! You should know that; you ride a motorcycle!" She continued as if afraid that Taki would never get the point.

"I understand, really. I'm sure my sister will understand as well." Taki stated in a low tone, but never turned to look at the blonde next to her. Of course her words weren't really helping how Sophitia felt. She had been almost forty-five minutes late picking her up. She felt like a parent being scolded by her own child for not picking her up early enough to catch a TV show. "We're nearly there anyway." Taki added, but it only calmed Sophitia's nerves just a little.

"You two overreact too much."

Taki and Sophitia sharply turned to look at the unexpected, small voice that spoke in the back seat. Cassandra was tapping her foot to the beat and had her eyes closed as she listened. She opened one eye at them and grinned. "You have to learn to calm down a bit. Learn Buddhism." She suggested jokingly as now both of her eyes were open. Taki turned to look at the street while Sophitia did the same.

"I already am a Buddhist, or so I'm told." Taki added as if it wasn't anything new to her. Sophitia and Cassandra looked at her with intrigue but didn't have time to ask about it as they pulled into the large underground garage.

Sophitia felt like she was going into a dance club of some sort and suddenly felt uneasy as she saw the wide, thick-hinged doorway and large brick walls with wide windows to look inside. Above the doors was a huge sign that had "The Arena" in neon lights. She sighed as she looked back down as if to ready herself for hours of time-consuming torture as Taki opened the door for the both of them. Cassandra eagerly went in, excited because she was hardly able to go anyplace such as this without her parents or friends with her.

When Sophitia walked into the entertainment complex, she felt a little reassured at the interior architecture. It was creatively constructed with metal-planked, brick-coordinated walls with sheets of clear and frosted class around the room and ceiling. Purple, blue, orange-red, white and yellow lights reflected off of the glass, dimly illuminating different parts of the room. Along with the working screens of the dozens of video game machines that were grouped together as people moved and circled around them. The three could feel the soft vibration of the bass beneath their feet through the carpeted floor from the medium-sized speakers in every corner of the room as they played remixed pop music. Although it hardly drowned out the constant chatter, growls of aggravation from the unsuccessful gamers and sound effects from the games.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Cassandra urged as she took a step forward. "Introduce me to your sister so that I can see what games I can try to master her at." She rubbed her hands together with anticipation.

"You don't have to look very far." Spoke a slightly agitated voice at their side and Taki began to feel tense as she recognized the purposely dulled tone. Taki turned to her purple-streak haired sister who had her hands on her hips and tapped her foot impatiently. Taki smiled briefly and nervously as if she thought it would make her sister's hazelnut stare less penetrating.

She felt something bump against her wrist then felt a light paper object slide into her hand from behind. Looking down, she beamed as she saw a ten dollar bill in her hand. She smiled apologetically as she shot it towards her sister. "Will more quarters for games cover up for my unintentional tardiness?" She asked in a hopeful tone as her sister took it and examined it as if she nearly believed that it might be counterfeit.

Sakura looked up and grinned brightly. "I s'ppose it'll do." She teased before she turned to lead the way to her brothers as she folded and stuffed the bill into her front pant pocket.

Taki continued to smile as she looked back to the Greek scholar, who winked at her as she walked around to Taki's side. Taki soon had a knowing look in her eyes as she folded her arms across her stomach. "Let me guess; I have to pay you back?" She asked in a tone that sounded as if she didn't need to put it in the form of a question.

Sophitia smirked as she looked away and patted the taller woman's shoulder twice. "Maybe for just two or three more subway fares." She stated in a strange tone that sounded as if she was forgiving her for something. '_Th-wack!_' She winced as she jumped at the feel of her short-haired sister's palm harshly hit the back of her shoulder. With shocked, questionable eyes she turned to see her sister's bewildered and angered gaze, which she confusedly quirked an eyebrow at. "If this has something to do about the ten dollars, I only did it so that it would be in return for my being late! Don't be mad at Sakura or Taki." She exclaimed as if she figured that Cassandra would never understand. She suddenly felt Taki pull on her arm, telling her to start following her Asian sister, as the sixteen-year-old was almost across the room and staring at them strangely, no doubt wondering what was taking them so long.

"I'm not mad at her, I'm mad at you!" Cassandra stated in a protesting tone as she hurried to Sakura along with Sophitia at her side. "You gave her my spending money!" She added in an even louder and almost appalled tone, which, lucky for Sophitia, didn't attract a whole lot of attention due to the music, noises and voices around the room.

Sophitia blinked at her then sighed almost pitifully at the situation that came into her mind. "You didn't bring your own money?" She asked in an almost nervous tone as she mentally counted how much money she still had in her wallet, as if she could foresee her own bankruptcy.

"Of course I did." Cassandra returned in a tone as if it was obvious she would. "It's just that you never know when extra money may be needed." She added with a simple shrug, as though 'borrowing' money from other people meant nothing to her.

"Uh huh… Right." Sophitia commented with another sigh as she could definitely see financial dept coming.

After passing people around rows and groups of video games of different genres and almost ending up in the back of the room, Sakura finally stopped in front of a huge-screened game holding two fake sniper rifles at its sides and readied a coin between her fingers. She turned and pointed over to two huge machines that, with the images and logos on its sides and back as they covered the seats and players from view, appeared to be based on truck-racing. "'Harry and Lloyd' are over in those things. They've played almost every racing game since we arrived." She informed as she slipped the coin into one of the slots and took her rifle underneath her arm as she waited for her turn to start.

"Want some company?" Cassandra asked with anxiously raised eyebrows, a hidden grin and a raised coin placed in between her fingers as she stood herself next to the prepared Sakura. The Japanese girl who was hardly any taller than herself replied with a competitive grin which was all that Cassandra needed to drop the quarter into the second slot and ready her sniper rifle beneath her arm.

Taki turned to meet her brothers and Sophitia reluctantly followed, figuring that her sister would be fine on her own as she had claimed many times before. "'Harry and Lloyd'?" Sophitia mentioned in near complete confusion as she caught up to the eldest sibling of the four Japanese gamers.

Taki seemed to snigger as Sophitia brought it back up as they crossed the room to the simulators designed to look like the heads of trucks. "She likes to refer Keiichi and Haitani to the characters of "_Dumb and Dumber_" because they always act so moronic whenever they're together." She explained with an amused look still on her face as they came up to the two brothers who where clearly focused on their race. Taki stopped in between the two half-cubicle seats, folded her arms over her stomach as she leaned her body against the side of Keiichi's cubicle and darted her eyes to both her brothers' screens to see who was in the lead.

She watched as their arms jerked every which way as they kept their hands on the wheel to dodge obstacles within the game and kept shooting their free hands to their tall, long gear shifts that were placed into the floor in between their legs for the purpose of making it easier for the players. Haitani finally had a free moment to look up to his side when he noticed at the corner of his eye that someone tall was standing in between him and his two-years-older brother. "Oh, hey Taki!" He yelled over the sound effects and fast-paced music. "Finally made it, eh? Me and Keiichi thought you had finally killed yourself on your beloved motorcycle." He added with a strangely amused look on his face as he kept his narrowed eyes locked upon the screen and jerked his wheel again.

Taki swept her eyes (which were narrowed for a completely different reason) to her spiky-haired, eighteen-year-old brother's face and glared so agitatedly at him that it almost looked like a sneer. "I notice your overwhelming concern. Sorry I worried you two." She spoke cockily, although Haitani barely seemed to notice as he made another jerk and shifted his metal, red-handled gear stick. Only Keiichi seemed to chuckle at the tone of her response.

"She's not that easy to get rid of." Sophitia commented simply, making Haitani sharply but briefly turned his head to the opposite side of where Taki stood as he recognized the sound of her voice. He looked at her with surprise and intrigue at the fact that she was here as well as she had her arm placed onto the top corner of his cubicle, leaning on it in a lazy, almost bored fashion as she kept her other hand in her pocket.

As he looked back to the screen, he chuckled almost deviously within his throat. He leaned and turned his head slightly towards his sister as a smiled crept on his face. "You brought _her_ eh?" He asked in a low tone so that Sophitia wouldn't hear, although Taki noticed the glint of excitement beneath his smug, coal-brown eyes.

Taki rolled her eyes at his usual behavior that he always showed around girls. "Her sister wanted to come as well, so she's here too." She spoke dully and absentmindedly just for the purpose of informing him. Haitani immediately whipped around with eagerness as he looked up at Taki as if wondering if it was really true. Taki's eyes narrowed because of his perverted mind surfacing, which she could very well see in his facial expression, wide eyes, and especially his grin. Haitani pulled back in a speck of nervousness that slowly heightened as Taki slowly leaned down towards with a glare of warning complete with an accusingly pointed finger. "Don't even _think_ about it you little lecher!" She warned in a very low voice as she watched her brother quirk an eyebrow at her. "She's three years younger than you and from what I could deduce from the time that I spent with her, I can tell that she's a bit of a man-eater." She gestured up to Sophitia with her thumb. "And I can assure you that _she's_ even worse." She promised with a small smirk as she stood herself straight again.

Haitani blinked as he looked at his sister for a moment then slowly turned back sit back against his seat. He sighed silently as he seemed to have a feeling of indecision. "Alright then, I'll my best and try to resist a kitsune like her." He shrugged slightly as if to try and brush off the thought of his limitations.

"What does that mean anyway?" Sophitia suddenly spoke up with a look of both confusion and curiosity as she looked down at the spiky-haired boy who had called her that once before.

Haitani looked up at her strangely as if he was now under a certain amount of stress. "Eh-ah-what? 'Kitsune'?" He faltered slightly as her blinked at her a few times; he looked as if he was in disbelieve. He watched her nod then slowly turned to his brother and sister with a raised eyebrow as if to ask for help. Both stammered as they cleared their throats slightly as they looked away and onto the floor as if to completely ignore him, although he could see that they were feeling just as embarrassed about saying it as he was. Just suddenly saying things to girls that might be an insult to them was a pretty embarrassing thing to do or at least the embarrassment would occur right after depending upon the reaction. He cleared his throat as he looked back up nervously to Sophitia's bewildered gaze. "Kit-kitsune means… um…"

"'Fox'…?"

Sophitia jumped as she heard a deep, very masculine voice right behind her and instinctively shot her leg backwards towards the source of the voice. She heard him let out a deep, heaving exhale over her shoulder as her foot made a hard impact with him. Sharply turning to see who was behind her, her eyebrows raised as she saw an older man with a broad chest, tied-up long ebony hair that was just about the length of her own blonde, and a small amount of facial hair. His hands were burrowed in between his baggy-panted legs as he hunched over slightly on the floor and breathed out loud shudders. His eyes remained wide and fixed upon the floor that he laid upon.

"Ho-boy…" Taki sighed as she carelessly ran a hand through her bangs before she walked over to her breathless ex. She kneeled down and placed her hands on his shoulders as she tried to help him back to his knees while she kept repeating the word "breathe" to help him in trying to ease his pain.

"Who's this?" Sophitia briefly pointed at his shuddering form as she asked in an almost demanding voice, still a little appalled by what he had called her.

Taki glanced in her direction as she helped heave him up. "Mitsurugi. He's a friend of mine." She explained simply.

"And before you call me a lecher…" Mitsurugi spoke up in a rather shallow voice. "'Kitsune means 'Fox'. I just said it because I was wondering why you two kept mentioning the Japanese translation." He stated as he tried to stand with the help of Taki's arm only to have his legs end up faltering and staggering under his own weight. He looked down as he closed his eyes tightly. "Wow, you have hard heels." He added with loud exhale.

Sophitia's eyes seemed to narrow slightly as she turned to the snickering Haitani as he was trying to hold back his laughter at the fact that Taki's ex-boyfriend, the all-masculine 23-year-old, was just kicked in the crotch. She leaned up close to him as she folded her arms. "You know, as flattering as calling me a 'fox' may seem…" Sophitia stopped as she suddenly shot her foot out at kicked Haitani's gear shift. The shift bent backwards and ran right in between Haitani's legs. The lenses of his eyes seemed to go incredibly dilated before he cringed horribly and let out a loud howl of pain which attracted quite a bit of attention from the people around him that he had startled with his yell. Sophitia quirked an eyebrow as she leaned against the screen of the video game that was now rolling the credits. "I'm one of the many that can't be amused by behavior like yours." She added in a deep and serious yet simple-sounding tone.

"Grrr…yep, argh, I th-think I got your

point!" Haitani grunted in agony as he looked up at her with a look of exasperated pain as his hands shot down towards the gear shift and tried to push it away only to realize that it was jammed.

"What in the world are you guys doing over here?" Sakura ran up to them with Cassandra walking behind, the short-haired blonde seemed to hold a small pout, displaying her 'anguish' of defeat in the sniper game. The both looked around to see Mitsurugi still leaning on Taki with his legs quite bent and her youngest brother as he seemed to be strangely fidgety in his seat. She looked over to find a bent metal bar crushed in between his legs. She tried to hold in her grin. "Must be why they call it a '_joy_stick'." Sakura commented with a small giggle as Haitani shot a look at her. "What? Need some help? Perhaps a blowtorch could work." She added as she bit her lip as her laughter became harder and harder to contain.

"NO! NO BLOWTORCH!" Haitani covered his lowers with both hands as he protested loudly which made the neighboring racing video gamers to look over at him. They looked at him with a strangely quirked eyebrow until their eyes dropped down to where the long piece of metal was lodged. Their faces cringed immediately at the sight.

Sophitia slowly turned to Mitsurugi, who actually cringed a bit himself at the fact that Haitani's pain wouldn't diminish as long as the shift stayed in place. "Sorry I kicked you." She started as her eyes darted when Mitsurugi looked at her. "It was a reflex and I was actually aiming for your stomach." She added as she rubbed her nape in slight nervousness of what Mitsurugi might say.

"No problem." He shrugged slightly, making Sophitia look at him with a stunned expression on how he was taking this so well. "I've taken more abuse before." He sighed as he gestured towards Taki's direction.

Taki noticed this and narrowed her eyes at him while her lip twitched slightly. "Oh shut up you big wimp." She stated bluntly as she deliberately dropped him back to his knees. She turned as she noticed that a fighting game called 'Marvel' was vacant and so, in her curiosity and intrigue, walked over towards it a short distance away and pulled out a coin. "I hope you're not so touchy in games." She noted with a smirk as she noticed Mitsurugi walk, or mostly waddle, over to the 2-player spot and dropped in a coin.

"Oh we shall see." He stated smugly despite his partial numbness in his thighs that slowly left him. In a matter of seconds after constant jerking and slamming of the round buttons and small joysticks along with small laughs of self-confidence and grunts and twinges of aggression it was Taki left with a wide smile and Mitsurugi with a wide-open mouth, stunned at his own defeat.

"Sure, your Hulk is powerful, but Nightcrawler is so much faster." She stated with a smirk as she turned towards his dark look that was directed at her condescending words. His attention turned as he noticed Sophitia standing next to him and gazing at the screen that showed a tailed, blue-skinned and yellow-eyed creature standing tall and triumphantly while opposite of him showed a scarred, bruised and almost unconscious huge, green-skinned and haired beast with torn purple pants.

"Want to give it a try?" He persuaded with a raised eyebrow.

Sophitia's eyes shot to his and shrugged carelessly as she shook her head. "No thanks, I'm not into games all that much." She stated in a low tone as her eyes drifted across the control panel of the counsel. "The closest I've ever gotten to seriously playing games is playing Tetris on my cell phone whenever I'm bored." She added simply.

"Well then…" Taki started as she pulled the blonde-haired girl into Mitsurugi's place. "We've got to change that now don't we?" She smirked as she handed two quarters to the green-eyed girl whose eyebrow was quirked slightly. Sophitia opened her mouth to protest only to watch Taki eagerly drop her quarter in and press 'Start'. Sophitia sighed in defeat as she lazily dropped her coin in and watched as the character screen came up.

Sophitia's eyes ran across all the characters that she hardly knew until she found two female characters that she liked; a fire-enveloped Jean Grey and a long white-haired black woman named Storm. Noticing that she was running out of time, she quickly chose Storm, having a love for lightning herself although she couldn't explain why. Taki chose the character she used against Mitsurugi, adoring his light-footed speed.

Both characters pulled off a ready pose before they entered the 'arena', which appeared to be in the middle of a four-way intersection in city traffic during a night-like ambience. The second after the battle started, Taki eagerly and relentlessly came at Sophitia's character. The more game-experienced girl repeatedly and randomly pressed the four commands tirelessly. Sophitia was surprisingly calm as she tried to fight back with the same method that Taki used. As Sophitia's health points fell, Taki inwardly smirked as she was about to count her next victory.

"Ah, I see what you're doing." Sophitia suddenly noted in her calm voice as if she just realized it. Taki raised a questionable eyebrow at her only to end up watching her own character get thrown, beaten, and struck by harsh flashes of her lightning bolts coming from high off-screen. Her eyes slowly widened with each passing second as she tried desperately to fight back to no avail; Sophitia kept ducking, blocking, striking, and leg-sweeping her which was always followed by a hard kick as her character was down.

Taki kept glancing at her in her aggravation as she watched the tables turn between them. "What? Did you just realize that the idea of the game is to bring down your opponents' life points?" She asked in a mocking voice that she didn't meant to bring out but was forced to as her surprise increased with every chunk of points that was taken from her. She began to panic as her character's life points was beginning to near its end.

Sophitia glanced at her with an expression that still seemed to hold indifference at the events. "No body's _that_ dense." She stated with a small chuckle at the idea of someone not knowing simple rules to such things. "It's just that that little blue creature of yours can't seem can't seem to take long-ranged attacks as he himself is apparently a close-range fighter. He, or you like to pull off high-horizontal attacks as well as speedy moves." She explained as if she was giving a simple overall conclusion in a presentation of some sort. Taki glanced at her after she heard her scholar-like assertion.

However, her action proved to be her final as well as fatal mistake as she heard her character let out a deeply-pitched cry of agony and then a loud "K.O.!" from the narrator as the letters seemed to slam against the screen. Storm whirled around in the air once before she faced her fallen opponent with her arms crossed over her stomach and displayed smugly triumphant eyes and a smirk. Nightcrawler seemed to be wallowing in his defeat with his hands behind his head as he bent it downward towards his kneeled knees on the ground.

Taki's eyes narrowed slightly as she noticed that a huge "Congratulations!" sprung onto Sophitia's side of the screen. Sophitia slowly turned towards her with a look of complete indifference as if her victory meant nothing to her. Her expression looked as though she mentally questioned "Are we done now?" in a dulled sort of way. Taki blinked through her now-competitive gaze that was directed at the blonde-haired girl then suddenly whipped out two coins for the both of them and bent down to slip it into her coin slot. "Two out of three!" Taki declared quickly and broadly.

Sophitia groaned in aggravation as she rolled her neck and eyes slightly. "Oh come on!" She protested in an almost whine-like tone. "I'm not into games, remember?" She reasserted with a quirked eyebrow.

Taki brought herself up from her position of bending over to reach the coin slot and matched Sophitia's quirked eyebrow as she placed a hand on her hip. "Why don't you ever play games? I mean your obviously good at it so why not give it a try once and a while. It won't kill you y'know." The taller girl stated as if it all was obvious to anyone.

Sophitia looked away slightly as she switched the weight on her legs. She let her eyes travel over the control panel of the video game. "I don't have the time. Once you get hooked on it it drains your life away because of your addiction to it. There isn't a real point in playing them, and getting better at your schoolwork and grades is better than getting better at your scores in video games because your scores in games won't help you at all later in life so its just a big waste of time." Sophitia stated as if they were all simple yet powerful notations as she looked back up to Taki's whose furrowed gaze slowly relaxed as she had listened; they were all true points.

Taki looked down in a rather speechless fashion as she turned to lean her backside against the control panel. "Alright, good points." Taki looked back up to Sophitia's green gaze. "I'm hoping to get into the university you're into, so maybe we can make a deal of you showing me the school and I won't make you play any games, fair?"

Sophitia blinked as she thought about the proposition then slowly nodded, believing it'll be good for Taki to know what to be prepared for if she does make it into NYU. "Maybe if you lay off the games a bit yourself." She noted as she pointed at the ebony-haired woman.

Taki smiled as she shook her head and raised her hands as if to show her innocence. "Heh-hey, I'm not as bad as_ those_ game-junkies." She motioned to her two bothers with her thumb. She turned as she heard an excited-sounding laugh from Sakura. They both looked over to see Keiichi trying to pull back the shift that was still jammed, but his strength didn't seem to be enough although Sakura held a small mallet that she found from a corner of the room in her hand. She pulled the mallet high over her head with an insanely excited grin.

"Here, let your loving-sister help ya!" She yelled jokingly then laughed as her troubled and pained brother let out a shriek of terror as he noticed the mallet over him.

Cassandra came up between the two elder sisters and smirked. "And I though _my_ family was insane when together." She noted aloud, making Taki and Sophitia chuckle.

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Again, sorry this was so late, I noticed that I hadn't posted anything in about 22 days which was a real surprise for me and forced me to write more after dealing with my laziness that occurred for a few days after my midterm week. I don't know how long the next update will take to finish and post, I haven't even started on it because I've been so focused on this one. I only have some of the scenes of the next ANE chapter worked out (but not on print) while the rest I'm still thinking about for the chronology of it all so that it's equal and understandable. It may take a few weeks, even with my extra study halls due to all the planning but I'll try to work on it in and out of classes.

I hope you liked this chapter though, it was kind of an extra fun episode (much like the others, I know). I actually had another fun scene planned out that I didn't think was as questionable as the other one that I mentioned in the AN at the top of the page, but I moved idea of that scene to another fanfic that I plan to write after I finish this fanfic (to forward you, it won't be a SC based fanfic, it's a manga. I know, quite a change on my part, but I've been having flashes of ideas for scenes for a while).

To Witch-Hunter 51: I'm really glad you like my fanfic thus far, I'm really hoping that it'll be funny but not go too far (so far by which the fanfic become crude and misunderstanding, not by what I wrote in this one with the pain I put Mitsurugi and Haitani through ;P). As I said to the rest of my readers, sorry for the delay and keeping you waiting, after the midterms my laziness caught up to me. I hope the update was good enough to make up for that though )

To Lokiador: Really sorry for the delay, I didn't mean for it to run this far, glad to know that you're so eager ;) As per your previous review I'm glad you feel that way about it as well as the way I characterized Cassandra. I tried to get as close to the game-character's persona as I could as well as showing some possible hidden features about them. When you mentioned the Dragonmistress and Sacredemblem recognition, I slapped my hand to my forehead; I completely forgot. Didn't really have as space to put a scene in either but I'm planning to pit one in at the near-beginning of the next chapter ) I know this one wasn't really as 'sweet' but I hope you liked it nonetheless ;)

To cocoacashu: Wow: ) Thank you so much for your last review, all you said meant a lot to me. I'm really happy you liked Cassandra's character, I tried to show as much of the game-character as possible with showing her strong attitude. I figured people would like the scene with Cassandra showing up in Taki's bed because it would be just a great comedy to put in and the scene that I got the idea from in a manga/anime I always loved and always cracked me up every time I saw it ;P In the last scene with the cat I just thought what it would be like and what I would say if I was in her shoes ;P And hey, I could never think that anyone was a loser no matter what they do (besides people into crime or drugs etc. because it shows how they give up on life so easily) and I'm glad that you felt honored by what I said and I really mean it : ) I know Yunsung isn't in and I was planning to put him into this chapter but it got too long to fit him anywhere and the idea of Mina and Yunsung being there at the same time would be a bit too large of a coincidence, but I'm planning to put him in soon (believe me, he's definitely going to be in this fanfic )) I hope you liked this chapter as much as the others, the next one should be just as good, or at least I'm hoping ; )

To reika45: I hope you liked this chapter, I know there wasn't any of the 'suggestive' positions in this chapter but I'm trying to put another one in in the next chapter, the next one should be a real laugh for the readers or so I hope ) I figured that everyone would like the kotatsu scene because it seems to show (what I like to call) 'pleasurable anguish' between Sophitia and Taki ;P I'll try to get to the next chapter of this fanfic as soon as I can after I write the next chapter of ANE.

To El Loco: I'm sorry you were never informed of my new fanfic, I figured you'd find out eventually and I actually wanted you to find out on your own so that you could read it for yourself ;) LOL, Astaroth? Heh-heh, I'll see what I can do, I had an idea after you thought of him being in the fic where he would participate in school as the gym teacher. But I actually figured that Rock would fit that roll better, sorry though, I'm still thinkin' of where I could possibly put him if I could find a funny yet respectable place for him. LoL, easy on those tacos by the way ;)

To Rain54: Yeah, I figured it would be cool to have two people from completely different backgrounds and upbringings live together. Cass is quite the important character in this fic and for a number of reasons, the main one being that I can use her to tweak humor into the fic. There will be a little more denial from Sophitia in another scene of the next chapter, it won't be much but it'll certainly be funny although Sophitia isn't attracted to Taki "just yet" but affections will certainly show between one of the two main characters later in the fic ;)

To Chibi Fizz: Wow, did you just find me or have you been reading my work for a while now? Because your automatic decision on putting me on your fav list is both stunningly surprising and flattering : ) I really appreciate your liking my chapters thus far : )

To mentalretard: Wow, the kotatsu was obviously popular, I'm glad you liked it, sorry for my delay, by the way : )

To Weaselbeast: You can criticize (at least around the way that you did it in your last review) all you want; it's your opinion and I'm happy to explain them for you : ) The reasons the accidents have to have a sexual slant is because it adds more humor into it and it can be an interesting field to write. And you really don't have to be so hard on yourself, you're a better writer than you believe. And I realize why you do so, I do it to myself as well sometimes, but don't break yourself up for something you believe not to be true : )

To ChaiSeeker200: I kind of had to give Cassandra multiple personalities to make her likable for the reader so I'm glad you like her so far. I hope you liked how I put her in this time, and I'm trying to think up new ideas of having her in the fic in the next few chapters. With mastering characters, I pretty well-mastered with Sophitia yet Cassandra is harder because her moves are different, Xianghua I'm pretty good at as well but I'm best at Nightmare.


	5. Ironic Expressions

Do not own SC characters. I'm pretty neutral about this one but read for yourself and let me know what _you_ think as always.

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Chapter 5: Ironic Expressions

Taki sat with Sophitia at the kotatsu as she waited for the younger girl to finish looking over her schoolwork. The Asian leaned her cheek on her fist with her arm propped on the table-top and fiddled with her pencil in between her fingers, trying to keep herself occupied during her hour of boredom. They had finished their day at the arcade and now the city was being covered by the slight-darkness of the coming night. She remembered Sakura having some of her money left and smirked as she recalled how her sister said that she was going to spend it all on the boxes of Pocky that Taki had once stolen from her at one time during one of her days of greediness-she had finished all her own and had a craving at the time.

Taki glanced up as she heard Sophitia grumble to herself as she flipped another page. The ebony-haired woman quirked an eyebrow; Sophitia's grumbling was becoming more and more frequent the more the blonde seemed to observe her schoolwork. "Something wrong?" She asked in a rather lazy tone as she removed her fist from her chin and waited for Sophitia to reply.

The blonde seemed to chuckle slightly but didn't look up as she kept flipping through the pages. "How in the world do you get passed all your classes with work like this? Do you perhaps bribe your teachers?" She asked with questionably furrowed eyebrows as she kept scanning each page with her eyes.

"You're funny." Taki replied sarcastically as she lifted the upper right corner of her lip for a split-second in a half-sneer before she looked away. "I can't be _that_ bad, I mean just tell me what you think I really need to improve in and I'll try to do it with you since you're the one tutoring me. Just whatever you do, don't say "All"." She added as she looked at Sophitia with a quirked eyebrow showing that she had no desire to be tutored in _all_ of her subjects.

Sophitia just looked up and blinked at her. "Okay." She answered simply before she calmly closed the binder and set it upon the stack of others that Sophitia still wondered how Taki could carry within her backpack. The younger girl laced her fingers together as she leaned upon the tabletop, not saying a word and merely smiled in a rather knowing way as she held back the word she was going to say, as promised.

The reason for Sophitia's silence eventually hit Taki and soon let her head lean forward slightly with her eyes giving her a look saying 'you've got to be kidding me'. "Everything?" Her voice rose slightly due to her sheer disbelief. "You can't possibly tell me that you're going to tutor me in every subject!" Taki's eyes darted at the thought. 'I'm sure she'd be capable in tutoring me in History, Science, Mathematics and English, I mean hell, she goes to NYU! The best college in the city if not the state! But what is she going to do? Tutor me on a different subject every night?' Taki's eyes widened at the idea. 'Oh Kami, that would kill me!' She thought as she felt a bit of panic at the idea alone. She looked up curiously as Sophitia seemed to laugh at her last statement.

"I think I'll just help you on the subject you appear to be struggling with most at this point; which appears to be general mathematics." Sophitia pointed out as she looked down to the wide, navy-colored binder with a sketchy title of "MATH" made by pen on the front cover. "I think I should be pretty good at teaching you that since my father scrupulously made sure that I would be the best in my class at that subject since he has such pride in our family's Greek heritage." The blonde stated in a fact-like tone although Taki noticed her roll her eyes slightly as she mentioned her father's habits, as if she had a 'no comment' feeling about it. "Maybe have sessions between here and the library twice a week and if you have any questions about possible homework then you can just come to me whenever." She suggested then quirked an eyebrow. "Or would that be too much for you?" She asked coyly.

Taki looked at her with a quirked eyebrow before she spoke. "No, no. That's fine." She assured, although Sophitia could tell that the older woman didn't want her to go any further than two days a week, which made her smirk as she looked down onto the table-top. Taki slowly rubbed her nape as she looked down; feeling the tension silence brought between them. She was just about to open her mouth to say something until she felt something furry brush against her bare toes underneath the table. She smiled as she gently nudged the being (who she knew quite well was the cat since she was rather used to the feel of the cat's fur as well as its lovable habits) back with her toes, petting it softly. When she felt a rough, semi-wet tongue, she giggled as it tickled her toes and reflexively brought her leg back only to have her knee cap bang against the bottom of the table. She yelped and narrowed her eyes at her action.

"Don't hurt yourself now." Sophitia tried to hold back her laughter as she spoke in a playfully criticizing tone although she looked up until she received a glare from Taki.

"It wasn't me, it was your cat!" The older woman returned as she looked underneath the table to find Ember locking her big bright blue eyes upon her own with a look saying 'what'd I do?' as her eyes stood erect and alert. Taki decided to lie on her side and let the cat stare at her until the feline finally decided to look away. "You said that a lot of the guys you brought here had troubles with this cat, right?" the 23-year-old suddenly asked as the thought hit her while the cat seemed to bob her head at her as if to answer her question.

"Um-hm." Sophitia answered from the opposite side of the table. Taki noticed the other girl's Indian-style crossed legs shift slightly as she spoke. "It's strange but sweet at the same time I suppose. She seems to want to protect me or something like that, like she has her own personal check-list of what a guy should be like and wants from me, should I ever fall for him." She hypothesized out loud as if she was just taking her thoughts into consideration.

Taki's almond eyes drifted over to Ember's blue ones as she suddenly noticed that the feline's pink nose was very close to her own and was sniffing curiously. She raised a hand and ran her fingers along the fur on her head and neck. She smiled as she listened to the dull purr the cat let out as the feline leaned her head against Taki's gentle fingers. "Are you checking me off on your list?" Taki asked the cat in a hardly audible whisper and a quirked eyebrow.

Of course, the cat didn't seem to give any sign of an answer, and Taki didn't believe it to be true anyway: firstly, why would Sophitia need someone when she seems to be doing fine on her own? Secondly, Taki was a woman, how would she be a match for Sophitia? And thirdly, for a cat to be that comprehendible would be quite weird. 'Didn't she say that there was one guy that Ember actually accepted?' Taki asked herself as she pulled herself back up into her sitting position to have Sophitia catch eyes with her own. "What about that guy from where you came from in Greece? Rothion? What ever happened to him?" She asked as curiosity began to take over.

Sophitia blinked, looked down and shifted in her hesitation. "Um." She started to fiddle with her thumbs as she looked for the proper words. Taki could tell that she was a little uncomfortable with talking about it but her eyes looked at least somewhat willing. "He… He was an old boyfriend of mine. The _only_ old boyfriend of mine." Sophitia corrected herself with a quirked eyebrow as if the correction brought a twinge of depression in her but quickly brushed it off, thinking that she wouldn't have had time for more anyway and didn't care to have any now.

"And?" Taki edged as she propped her elbow on the table-top and leaned her chin upon her palm. 'I'm becoming about as curious as this cat.' Taki noted as she happened to feel Ember settle in a ball within her lap.

Sophitia lifted an eyebrow at her pressing curiosity the looked down as she shifted again. "He didn't like the idea of me going abroad over here. He wanted me to stay in Greece, thinking that it was where I belonged and so that I would stay with him. But I wanted to come here anyway; I wanted to see something new I suppose." She paused. "He came here once just to visit and to see how I was. He stayed for a week then went back. I haven't heard from him in a while though." The younger girl finally locked eyes with Taki then cocked her head to one side. "There, I said it. Anything else you'd like to know in the last few minutes that I feel courteous?" She asked in a high, sweet tone although Taki could tell that it wasn't meant to be sweet, just sarcastic.

Taki looked up for a split-second, trying to think of something to ask. 'While I still have the time.' She noted with a smirk before she locked eyes with Sophitia's. "When are you going to show me NYU? You said that you'd take me there one of these days and I hope that it's soon." She leaned over the edge of the kotatsu as she spoke as if to put emphasis into her words.

Sophitia just looked at her and sighed silently as she tried to pick out a time. "Perhaps tomorrow after school? I have to stay after for Professor Mau anyway." She thought out loud as she looked to the sliding glass doorways that led out to the balcony, the lights from the other buildings' rooms hitting the corner of her eye.

"Were you late to school again?" Taki smirked as Sophitia glared at her from the corner of her eye. Taki backed herself off of the table and raised her hands in a way of defense. "Hey, you were late last time so I was just wondering if you finally received your punishment for your tardiness." She explained with a playful grin that she had trouble hiding.

Sophitia narrowed her eyes at her for a few seconds before turning to face Taki completely. "No, I wasn't late this time and just to let you know, I've had plans to come over to help Ms. Mau two weeks ago." She explained as she leaned herself backwards and stretched her back slightly. "Mina's supposed to be coming by tomorrow when we're done helping her. All I promised I'd do was organize her books since her students always seem to be misplacing them." Sophitia continued as she stood up and went to her desktop computer and logged herself on. "You don't have to do much in the meantime, you can either walk around the building or you can help me by holding the ladder; Ms. Mau's office has a really tall bookshelf." The blonde noted as she rolled her shoulders, waiting for the main screen to show up.

Taki couldn't help but smirk as she had an image of Sophitia on a ladder then added the image of her nearly falling down the subway steps the day that Taki moved in. "I think I'll give you a hand, I don't want you hurting yourself." She tried to hold her grin back as she stood up to go to her room, much to Ember's displeasure as she was forced to leave her warm seat. Taki could feel Sophitia's piercing glare at her back as she walked away.

"Grrr…" Sophitia grumbled deep within her throat. "That woman is going to be the death of me." Sophitia's eyes widened in her twinge of excitement as the screen finally came up and opened up her buddies list in her messenger. She sat herself straight up and clicked on the messenger. 'Surely DragonMistress can settle my nerves. It's been a long while since I've spoken to her. Hope she's not worried.' She was thrilled to find that DragonMistress43 was online. She cracked her neck slightly in preparation and placed her fingers on the keyboard…

8

Taki took a deep breath and flopped herself on the bed with her hands behind her head. She made sure that she shut her door as she came in so that she wouldn't have to worry about Sophitia sneaking a cautious look at her, should she ever pass by her door. The ebony-haired girl closed her eyes only to hear a low _'b-ring!' _from her laptop that sat upon her desk. Growling in slight annoyance, she lifted herself up but her annoyed eyes brightened as she saw her messenger blinking on the screen. Quickly grabbing her laptop, shepulled it back until she sat on the bed and rested the machine onto her lap. She propped herself upon a pillow, raising it to rest herself against the headboard and read her message.

"**SacredEmblem12:** How've you been? It's been a long time hasn't it?"

A smile played on Taki's lips. "**DragonMistress43:** Indeed it has. Did you get your results for who was going to live with you? (Obviously wasn't me, but just curious) ;)" Taki steepled her fingers together as she waited.

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12:** Yes, and I'm lamenting the fact that I didn't get you. The person I have is kind of annoying, has a smart mouth and is more than a bit lazy."

Taki narrowed her eyes at this person's description. "**DragonMistress43:** What a bum! The person I'm with is a bit of a push-over at times but I can deal with that. She's more of a worker than a fun person, but I guess I can't blame her seeing as to how she goes to NYU." Taki thoroughly explained as the thoughts came to her.

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12:** She sounds like she's the type who needs to slow down. My roommate has some strong points of her own as well. The only ones I've seen is that she has a good sense of humor, loves her siblings (which is hardly something you see everyday), and she never gives up."

Taki quirked an eyebrow at this information. "**DragonMistress43:** Well, I guess those are a few pluses, but I still think that I would've been a much better roommate for you." Taki grinned as she pressed the 'Enter' key and waited eagerly; she hoped she made SacredEmblem smile brightly with her remark.

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12: **(giggles madly) I know that and I wish it could be true that we'd be in at least the same complex, but I guess that's wishful thinking. But maybe we could take the chance of meeting sometime."

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12:** (Gasps at an idea) Maybe we could sneak out somehow and meet at night, they wouldn't need to know and we'd relieve each other's stress by being together."

Taki grinned the widest she had ever grinned before as she read this. "**DragonMistress43:** What a good idea! The only problem is that my roommate likes to watch me every second. Of course I'm not saying that she keeps a peep hole through the wall to watch over me, I guess she's just careful for some reason." As Taki finished, the memory of Sophitia giving her a long, watchful and cautious look before she went to bed the night that Cassandra stayed over made her chuckle.

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12: **That seems kind of sneaky to watch over you like that though. You seem like someone full of integrity, the girl you're living with doesn't seem as trusting as you seem to be."

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12:** I know that if you were with me, I would've fit you with every privilege you deserve. Between raiding the refrigerator at night, to maybe even sleeping in my bed with me just so that I could see your face while you sleep (of course not going any further than that, but…). I trust you that much :)"

Taki felt as though this girl's fingers had just gracefully yet casually touched her lips. She had to slowly close her eyes and take a deep breath to this sensation so that her rapid heartbeat didn't overwhelm her. In the darkness of her closed eyes, Taki's conscience took over and had an image of this girl's complete profile in shadow-form standing before her with her gentle fingers on her lips. Taki, still within her daydream, executed the urge and felt herself mentally kiss the girl's fingertips in return before she took the shadow's hand within her own and held the girl's palm to her lips.

'_B-ring!'_ "**SacredEmblem12: **DragonMistress? Are you alright?"

The chime of a new message abruptly brought Taki out of her thoughts as she realized that she had murmured "wow" before she was painlessly interrupted. Taki stammered as she brought herself fully back into reality and tried to think up a good reply.

8

Sophitia steepled her fingers together as she leaned her elbows onto her desktop, waiting for her friend's reply. She hoped that she hadn't said too much, she was a bit surprised by what she wrote as well, not knowing who this girl was. But it was what she felt so it was true and she wanted DragonMistress to know that. She became more nervous as the seconds passed and was relieved to hear a light _'b-ring!'_ that was hardly audible.

"**DragonMistress43:** I feel the same. I wish I was closer to you. But I guess I should feel content knowing you the way I do now, I don't want to jinx it."

Sophitia let a smile play upon her lips as she typed her reply. "**SacredEmblem12: **I don't want that either. We're close, just in a different way than we would've hoped. Mental but not physical thing." The 19-year-old wished she could say more but then the phone suddenly rang, making her growl in annoyance. "**SacredEmblem12:** I wish I could ask what you and your new roommate have done so far but I have to go as something just came up that I wished didn't. I'll get back to you soon. Bye :)" She logged off and went into the kitchen to pick up the phone on its last ring before the answering machine could get it. "Hello?"

"Hey Sophie."

Sophitia sighed silently as she recognized Mina's voice. "Hi Mina." She replied in a simple-sounding voice with some annoyance residing in it but tried to hide it as she spoke. "Need something?"

"W-well… ugh…" Mina seemed to let out an annoyed sigh before she continued. "Remember how I said that I would meet you after you help out in Professor Mau's office?" She asked, now making Sophitia believe that she's already making it more complicated for herself to explain.

"Yeah?" Sophitia replied with a quirked eyebrow and a smirk, waiting for what Mina had to say.

"Well something just kind of came up. I'll be there to meet you after school but I have to baby-sit the twerp, so I have to bring him along with me." Mina explained with a twinge of aggravation in her voice.

Sophitia pulled back and let her quirked eyebrow rise even higher in her confusion. "The 'twerp'?" She nearly chuckled out loud as she asked but held it in, afraid of making Mina even more aggravated.

"My little cousin, Yunsung. Annoying little-hey! Get back to your video games shrimp!"

"Don't call me a shrimp! You're more annoying than I am! Hey, let me talk to your friend!"

"No way! Now get back into your games so that I can have my smidgen of peace and talk to Sophitia!"

Sophitia sniggered uncontrollably as she listened to Mina argue with her cousin. She had only met Yunsung once and he was never that way to her the way he was to Mina. He actually seemed quite cute and adorable for a fourteen-year-old, then again he must have only seemed that way around Sophitia because Mina always seemed ready to torture him. Sophitia looked to the hallway to the left of the kitchen to find Taki striding through it while scratching the back of her head lightly so not to ruin her ponytail. She seemed a bit bewildered but Sophitia just brushed it away as Mina finally came back.

"Sorry about him, wish I could gag him up and tie his wrists together myself but, nope! I'm trying to be a mature as I can… _grumble_… little twerp… can't believe… _grumble_." Mina's childishness made Sophitia snigger even more.

"Who are you talking to?" Taki asked out of curiosity since Sophitia seemed so amused at whatever the person was saying.

"Mina." The blonde answered quickly as if not to disturb her friend's irritable state as she watched Taki take a seat in one of the wooden stools by the kitchen counter.

"The brunette?" Taki tried to place an image on the girl who she believed to have escorted Sophitia to the library the first time they met after they had received their letters.

"SEPIA!" Mina suddenly shouted her correction to Taki making both girls suddenly jump. Sophitia placed a hand over the mouthpiece before she spoke in a slight whisper.

"She likes it when people call her something close to a red head because she believes that there are so few of them and likes to feel unique in her own fond way." Sophitia explained softly as if it was a simple reason although knew it was something that anyone would quirk and eyebrow at. She slowly brought the phone up to her ear and was about to speak but Mina got to her before she could.

"Oh, wait, that was Taki's voice right? How've you two been holding up since I left you two to get to know each other, or at least better than before?" Mina asked with intrigue and at least didn't sound as aggravated as before.

All the images of their being together – finding Cassandra and Taki in the same bed together, nearly falling down the subway steps and ending up having Taki save her, waking up late one morning and having Taki be the one to tell her, Taki making her play a video game end the Asian ending up to be a sore loser – came into her mind and ultimately made her sigh.

"Oh never better." The Greek spoke in a dulled voice to make herself sound sarcastic. Taki lifted an eyebrow, having an idea of what Sophitia was talking about even though she couldn't hear the conversation but Sophitia's sarcastic voice gave her a hint.

"And the ride back? You took the subway right?" Mina asked as the questions filled her head.

The image of Sophitia falling both forwards and backwards into Taki's warm body made the Greek feel both aggravated for that action yet at the same time could feel her cheeks fluster at the feel of her strong body. "It _could've _gone better. And plus it's none of your concern." She added as she leaned on the edge of the kitchen counter with her palm and a quirked eyebrow at Mina's edging.

"Oh?" Mina sounded intrigued. Sophitia could just imagine a smirk playing on Mina's lips. "It must've been juicy then." She added, now Sophitia could definitely see a grin on her face.

The Greek narrowed her green eyes. "Nothing happened!" She tried to explain while trying to avoid Taki's confused gaze. She tried to turn away from the Asian and leaned her backside on the counter while pressing the phone's earpiece into her ear with both hands.

"Um-hm." Mina didn't sound convinced but Sophitia heard her take a quick breath before she continued. "Well anyway, perhaps I can find out later when me and… _him_ pick you up. Is Taki coming with you?" The Korean asked out of curiosity.

"Yes." Sophitia sighed, afraid of where this might lead to but hid it as she spoke in a fact-like tone.

"Oh good, then maybe I can wheedle out of her when I see her." Mina suggested as if she had no doubts of her capability to persuade.

Sophitia chuckled as if she had doubts of her own. "I'm sure you will, I'll see you there then. Bye." With that, and hearing Mina utter her goodbye, hung up the phone and turned to the bewildered Taki.

"What was that about?" The older woman asked with a raised eyebrow in her curiosity.

Sophitia's eyes darted before she could look at her fully as she cleared her throat slightly as if slightly nervous. "Um, I don't think you really want to know." She answered as she walked out of the kitchen and headed into the living room in front of them to occupy herself for the rest of the night with Taki's notebooks still scattered around the kotatsu. She could feel Taki's confused chocolate eyes upon her back.

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Taki's eyes widened at the size of the main building of NYU; it seemed big enough to hold the entire school alone. The corridor walls had a few whimsical murals on them that were most likely painted by the students in the school's Art Club. The doors were wide glass and automatic, so which Taki found out as she walked through them as she followed Sophitia to Ms. Mau's office.

"Professor Mau's office should be at a far side of the school, so at least you get a good look at everything else the university has to offer." Sophitia stated simply as she led the way with Taki still in her own world of awe.

The older woman noticed that there were several other tan brick-walled buildings around the area which students were just coming out of. She had a real curiosity of how the students found their way around. And by the looks of all the flyers on the message board in the front hall, there were several clubs that anyone could join. Although she wondered who in their right mind would join them all.

The school had a courtyard in the center of the square-foot area and the courtyard could be seen for the wide glass windows at one side of the hallways. The wide courtyard had metal benches, hilly grass grounds with trees and sidewalks weaving around it to every exit/entranceway which few students were still passing through for extra-study at the end of school. It almost looked like a much smaller version of Central Park. Taki was a bit surprised that Sophitia never went there in stead of the library, but then again the library you could stay in for almost the entire night.

'Wow, this place is like a maze.' Taki noted to herself as she seemed to be weaving around corridors, rooms and people along with noticing elevators here and there through the school. "How many classes do you have?" Taki asked just for the purpose of making a conversation as they came closer to Professor Mau's office which seemed to reside up the staircase to the third level.

"Eight, and only three or four are important and worth the time of staying in this school." Sophitia stated simply as reached the last step that led to the third level and walked passed all the dark-wooden doors with bronze handles until she found the right one in the center of the hallway.

"Keeps you occupied?" Taki asked with a smirk as she spoke in a criticizing voice.

Sophitia turned to the slightly taller woman with a glare before she actually opened the door. "For the time being." She replied simply although in a tone as if to throw Taki off. She smiled as she walked through the door into the rather large room as she saw that she was a bit successful as she looked at Taki from the corner of her eye. "Professor Mau?" She called as she looked about the room for her black-brown wavy-haired, late-20's to early-30's teacher and found her in the corner by her desk and seemed to be gathering her notepads, pens and a binder in haste.

"Oh Sophitia, I'm glad you came when you did, I have an important, however short meeting to go to. I should be back before you get done. Thank you for doing this for me by the way." The professor spoke in her rush but stopped as she noticed that Taki was behind her blonde student. "My, my. I remember you two being roommate because of that exchange thing. What'd Sophitia do? Bribe you into helping her?" She asked with a smirk as she toyed with her Greek student, who shot her a glare from behind.

Taki chuckled. "No, I just wanted to see a bit of the school since I hope to come here someday. I hope to come here more often than just this once. And the only reason why I'm helping her is because I'm afraid that she'll do something clumsy, since it has to do with…" Taki looked to a bookshelf that Sophitia might've been referring to and let her eyes widen slightly at its height; it nearly touched the ceiling. "That tall bookshelf." She finished as she kept her eyes on the dark-wood bookshelf.

The professor seemed to chuckle as she headed towards to door to make her leave. "Well, for being with Sophitia and wanting to go to this university, you're in luck because she's the valedictorian of the school." With that, Ms. Mau left the room to them and Taki in utter speechlessness as she slowly turned to Sophitia wide-eyed.

"You never told me that you were a valedictorian!" Taki nearly yelled in her utter surprise and disbelief.

Sophitia threw a smirk at her as she turned to the back of the thinly-carpeted room. "You never asked." She stated simply as she tried to clean up the professors wide, wooden desk after the much older mentor made a small mess of it while in her haste.

Taki watched with a quirked eyebrow as she gathered the professor's materials together then head over to the corner of the room to find a step ladder then placed it where the bookshelf stood. While she was up there, she straightened out black and bronze Egyptian figurines and models that stood on each shelf as she stepped upon the ladder. "Do you always like going the extra mile when doing something? I mean your only job now is to arrange the books, right?" Taki asked in her bewilderment of Sophitia's volunteering to fix things.

Sophitia looked down at the Asian for a split second before going back to what she was doing. "Oh, I don't know, I just like to straighten things out as I see them, if I don't it begins to bother me and I do it anyway." She explained simply as she tried to decide a way of ordering the books in the most logical fashion.

"Mm." Was all Taki could mutter as she took a look around the room. She quirked an eyebrow as she noticed that there were a lot of cat figurines. Most of which appeared to be golden as if they were heirlooms as they were scattered to lay upon her desk, round table for meetings which was right in front of the wide desk, and much smaller shelves that held other teaching profession books and few awards from her past years. The several cats made Taki feel uneasy about her teacher's hobbies, almost to a worry state for her mentor's sanity. But the older woman, feeling a little ashamed for questioning her own teacher's sanity, quickly brushed it off as she turned to Sophitia, who was finally beginning to lay the temporarily discarded books to one side on a metal floor-cabinet that laid to her right.

Eventually, it seemed like hours were passing them by in almost utter silence. Taki glanced to the clock above the door at one point from where she stood between the shelf that Sophitia was at and the wide desk and noticed that over thirty minutes of keeping an eye on Sophitia's balance had passed. The Asian promised to keep her palms on the ladder to make sure that it remained sturdy for Sophitia to stand on, although it was pretty awkward to feel Sophitia's legs bump against her arms and head once an a while. Taki took in a breath before she looked up to find out that Sophitia's restacking and reorganizing was almost complete, much to her relief and delight.

"Can I ask you something? The Greek girl finally spoke and asked as if the thought suddenly hit her and filled her with intrigue. "Why do you try so hard to get into this school? Why should a jock like you care about getting into a tough school like this?" Sophitia mentioned the word 'jock' as if it was nothing important but still made the Asian form a glaring sneer at her but didn't catch it as the ebony-haired woman was right behind her. "Are you trying to be a role model for your siblings?" The younger girl added with a raised eyebrow as she glanced at Taki, who looked as though she wasn't even paying attention until Taki glanced up in return with her arms folded over her chest like she wasn't willing to talk about it. "Hey, I told you about Rothion, so maybe you can give a little information about yourself." Sophitia suggested, making sure to keep her eyebrow raised as if to better prove her point.

Taki sighed then nodded reluctantly. "Alright, but you should show me a picture later." She added with a pointed finger as Sophitia looked at her, blinked then sighed as she nodded reluctantly and continued to slip the books into their proper places on the shelves. "It was basically my sister. She wanted me to do really well in school as well as making myself as physically fit as possible." She explained in her normal, not-at-all-important tone as she looked away from the blonde in front of her, who nodded in her belief.

"You don't have to do what your little sister tells you y'know. I never do. Well, only if it gets her off my back at times." Sophitia added simply as if Taki's predicament with her sister was nothing to worry about.

Taki smirked slightly as she shook her head as if slightly amused by what Sophitia thought. "Not my younger sister; my _older_ sister: Tsakoto (A/N: Sa-koe-toe, to help you pronounce it). She graduated from Tokyo University and expects me to eventually end up here somehow. I want to be part of this school anyway, to show her how much I've achieved and how much my younger siblings can achieve if they really work to get it and don't give up." Taki stated in a very positive tone, which made Sophitia turn to her while she wasn't looking with raised eyebrows and a small, lightly-open-mouthed smile almost as if to encourage what Taki was doing now.

Then when she looked down, she noticed that the ladder was becoming dangerously wobbly. "Uh-Taki? N-not to break you from your m-moment and possibly coming speech about that, but…" Sophitia stammered in her hesitation while trying to strengthen her balance just a little bit. "A-are you still holding the ladder?" Sophitia asked as the stress was beginning to take over her muscles when she noticed that Taki wasn't at her feet and holding the ladder sturdy. Taki didn't seem to be paying attention as she seemed to be lost within her own thoughts as she tried to remember the things that her elder sister tried to teach her while she was young. "Taki?" Sophitia called in her attempts of getting Taki to notice her predicament. Unfortunately the older woman seemed to be mumbling to herself in her thoughts, she seemed to be reflecting. Even though Sophitia would've been willing to let Taki continue… she _wasn't_ now as she felt a leg of the step ladder begin to wobble even more. "Taki!"

"What!" Taki yelled back in annoyance as she turned to find Sophitia 'leaning' in a very dangerous angle. When Taki found out that the direction was towards herself, her eyes widened then relaxed into an almost pleading way as her shoulders dropped slightly. "Oh Kami…" She spoke in a simple yet almost depressed tone as if she knew what this moment would ultimately bring. "Why me-gack!" The Asian winced as she felt Sophitia fall upon her face-first, making them both fall onto the desk meanwhile making cups of extra pencils and pens, the professor's name upon the desk which read "Setsuna Mau", and a paperweight in the shape and design of an obelisk upon the desk fall to the floor along with a few papers it held down.

Taki groaned followed by Sophitia as the Asian moved beneath the younger girl. 'At least she's light in weight; otherwise this would be _really_ difficult.' Taki thought as she felt the blonde lift herself slightly from her body and look at her with eyes that showed concern and somewhat aggravation. The older woman could guess why she was aggravated then looked to the side as if to avoid the Greek's gaze.

"Um… are you alright?" Taki asked, trying to have Sophitia focus on other things besides her mistake of not watching her while she was on the ladder. Sophitia seemed to let out a sigh as if to sooth her own annoyance against Taki and shifted slightly as she leaned on her arms while still on top of Taki. She was afraid that if she moved too quickly then more of the desk's contents would fall off, plus she didn't find herself in a rush even when in her position at the point.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sophitia looked at her and seemed to smile faintly at the girl lying on the desk below her. "Thank you for catching me." She added, still holding her smile as the ebony-haired girl smiled faintly in return.

Taki grunted slightly and shifted as she felt something still on the desk pressing into her back although she had no idea what it was although wasn't willing to move from where she laid. "No problem." She replied with her smile despite the twinge of pain in her back and even with Sophitia laying some of her weight upon herself. "You are clumsy, aren't you? This is the third time that I've saved you." Taki mentioned as her smile grew wider.

Sophitia tried to ignore Taki's deep dun-brown eyes that seemed to hold a hidden glitter as she grinned beneath her. "Saved me? When did you save me?" She asked in utter disbelief as if she thought that Taki was making it up.

"One: Falling down the steps of the subway. Two: Falling into the people or onto the floor of the subway train. And three: now." Taki listed, still smiling all the while as though she was rather proud of herself for doing the things during the times she listed.

Sophitia huffed as though slightly outraged as she backed away from Taki but only a few centimeters, not getting off of Taki's body. "I wouldn't be so full of yourself if I were you." The younger girl sounded as though she was scolding the woman below her. "I'll give you that you saved me on the staircase, but the 'incident' in the subway was not my fault!" She explained with much emphasis in her voice.

Taki seemed to roll her eyes in her amusement at Sophitia's statement even though she knew that the blonde may have been right. "If you say so." She replied with a smirk which made Sophitia just narrow her aventurine eyes at her and didn't bother to respond to Taki's assertion. "At least I compliment you on what you did do my perverted brother Haitani, he had it coming for a long while." She added with a grin that appeared as she brought the memory back to her thoughts. Sophitia looked down at her with raised eyebrows as if quite surprised by Taki's statement; she had felt a little guilty for doing what she did to him, but Taki's bright grin filled her with redemption and renewed confidence. It didn't take long for the two to notice while in their growing silence that the position they were in was… well… 'comment-able'.

Sophitia's hands were holding Taki's arms down and could feel that she was strattling one of the Asian's thighs. She also noticed that she has holding it rather tightly due to the tension that she had felt when arguing with Taki. And the final touch was her lying on Taki's body. All this in knowledge made her blush slightly but she tried to compose herself as it would be even more embarrassing if Taki saw her. Though what she didn't notice that Taki had noticed their position as well and had a hint of a blush on her cheeks as well. The silence was so overtaking that they could hear each other's deep breathing.

After looking away, Sophitia looked back down to Taki's umber eyes and found her features to look relaxed yet serious, almost to a vulnerable state. However, the Greek highly doubted that a masculine woman like Taki would ever look vulnerable by any means. She heard and felt Taki sigh almost silently beneath her and soon felt herself do the same as they did all they could do, which was just look at each other in speechlessness, not knowing what to do in such an awkward moment and position.

"_Schreend!"_ "Hey Sophie, sorry were late, but my punk cousin...?"

Both women upon the desk were startled as the door suddenly swung open with a loud squeak and Mina's voice which slowly seemed to dim the more that her hazelnut eyes observed within the room. The Asian and Greek stared at the Korean in surprise while the Korean stared back in surprise, disbelief, and eventually amusement until she felt a head poke inside around her arm.

She looked down to see the auburn hair of her one foot shorter, fourteen-year-old cousin at her side, looking with curiousness which quickly became surprise and excitement as he uttered "oh… my god…" with his mouth gaping open and eyes wide as he tried to take in every bit of the position displayed in front of him. Mina noticed this and quickly clamped her hand over his eyes and pulled him into her arms to try and reduce his struggling as he tried to free himself. "H-hey! That ain't fair! Lemme go!" He whined and complained as he thrashed against her arms. "Just because you're older and taller, it doesn't mean you can hold me down!" He proclaimed as he tried harder to get her to release him to no avail.

Mina grumbled at his persistence as she continued to contain him then turned to the two within the room who seemed to be hastily separating and getting off of each other then straightening out their clothes while trying to regain their composer and dignity. Mina tried her best not to grin at what she just saw and what she was seeing now. "Um… You know Sophie, I'm glad you're finally letting go. I mean… your own roommate, who is a girl and older than yourself… and… even on top of the professor's desk! You just can't help yourself can you? I mean, that's pretty dirt-."

"We weren't doing anything!" Sophitia tried to explain as she could definitely feel a fluster starting to burn her cheeks. Taki nodded eagerly to add emphasis to Sophitia's words.

"Oh really?" Mina raised an eyebrow in intrigue. "Well I think this professor can say differently." She stated with a devious grin as she heard none other than Ms. Mau herself step into the room with a smirk on her face and a hidden, suggestive spark in her bright amethyst eyes.

Both girls deeper within the room froze in their positions with the exceptions of wide eyes and gaping mouths. They just looked at their mentor in speechlessness as they wondered how much she had seen through the door's small window. Taki was the first to find her voice as she raised her finger to the mentor's direction. "How… Why-How?... How long were you…?" The Asian had trouble finding the right words.

Ms. Mau laughed at their reaction to just finding out that she had been watching them. "Don't worry, I just wanted to see the chemistry between you two and I must say it was quite interesting." She commented with her smile of slight amusement as she came towards them. "I told you my meeting was short, I came here when you just fell on top of her. I was about to hurry in to see if you were alright but then I noticed that you seemed to be quite comfortable in the position you were in. You stayed that way for quite a bit of time didn't you?" She added with a grin that she tried to hide as the two in front of her faltered as their gazes shifted to other places around the room as if to avoid her own knowing eyes.

"You don't do that on a daily basis do you? I mean window-watching is kind of a crime isn't it?" Taki asked just to be smart along with a quirked eyebrow and Sophitia's sniggers as her back up to her mentor even though it was a mistake to do so since her teacher gave her a kind of 'watch-yourself' leer. Taki cleared her throat then lowered her head and darted her eyes from her to the ground then back as if all would gesture her apology to the professor who cross her arms over her stomach.

The professor's eyes glided over her shelf as if to scan for anything amiss in her room since the two had been there. She let out a positive "Hm." when she saw that all her books were in order then let out a comment-able "Hmm." as she noticed the condition of her desk. The two girls in front of her noticed her look then quickly turned around and tried to place the pencils, pens etc. back on the desk in a neat order then turned back to their mentor with lowered heads as if slightly embarrassed as they cleared their throats. Ms. Mau chuckled. "Go on, get out of here, you've done enough of a job in my office, thank you ladies." She spoke with an amused smirk that stayed upon her lips as she watched them both nod slightly and speechlessly make their way towards Mina.

The Korean was grinning widely even though Yunsung was still restively struggling against her and even trying to throw his fists in his cousin to make her let him go but only ended hitting the air and in the direction of 180 degrees from where she stood. "This brings a whole new reputation for you two: doing what you were about to do on top of the teacher's desk-"

"Oh shut up!" Taki and Sophitia yelled back in unison as they walked passed her and out the door, not waiting for her and her cousin to catch up.

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I think I did pretty well in this one and I hope you like this one. Boy, I fit a lot of irony in their little chat on the computer, but I think I wanted it to be that way as part comedy part drama. Yunsung will be a bit more defined in character later. I hope you liked the characterization I gave Ember by Sophitia; I wanted the cat to be cute that way. The transition from Sophitia's apartment to NYU came a little fast, I know, but I didn't want the story to drag due to little things (the incident in Setsuna Mau's office wasn't small, I assure you). Remember the name Setsuna? Yep, it's Bastet's daughter from 'When a Savior is Saved' :) I needed to fit her in ;)

To Witch-Hunter 51: Yeah, I really wanted to do that to Haitani for the comedy of it all even if it was mean even though a perv like him deserves it. I'm sure Cassandra would do about the same with the actions he can show to show his 'affections'; kick him in the safety deposit box ;P I hope you like the events shown in this chapter :) Thank you for your reviews.

To Lokiador: Hey, eager is good, gets your point across, lol. I was quite successful on my midterms, grades are pretty much evening themselves out, thank you for your motivation in it :) The true meaning of kitsune really is 'fox' in Japanese, I got the idea from a comedy/romance manga called 'Love Hina'. I'm glad you like my last chapter, I was hoping that it would go over well :)

To Weaselbeast: Better than the last three chapters? Wow, thanks, I'm proud to know that my writing seems to be getting better for you on each chapter. Cassandra will make more appearances later, I wanted her to be kind of a stereo-typical sister, what any other sister would be like but still have Sophitia love her even if she may deny it at times. For Sophitia coming to grips, I still want them to have arguments here and there but they'll eventually understand each other for many different reasons. I don't want to rush the relationship for the reader. I'm glad you're enjoying it thus far though ;)

To Chibi Fizz: I'm very glad to know that you liked my previous works, I hope you like my future ones as well which happen to be based on mangas ;) I think that my 'When a Savior is Saved' fic could've used some corrections in the storyline but I guess I'm content with it now. I hope I portrayed Setsuna in a way that was close to her original character in my first fic. I also hope that you liked this one as much as the others :)

To cococachu: I'm glad you were so excited about my last update and I'm trying not to beat Mitsurugi up the way that I am, he just always comes in at the wrong times ;P He'll be shown with more dignity later. I wanted Sakura's character to be quite smart-alecky so I'm glad you like the way she is with that in mind and I wanted her to be so like Cassandra and I intend on them being friends eventually so just imagine how smart-alecky they can be once together :) I figured that the arcade thing would be fun to put in since they are arcade characters themselves. I LOVE Nightcrawler as well, he's my fav in the whole x-men series! I'm just sorry I had to have Sophitia keep shooting him with bolts of lightning. I figured fictional characters would add to the story so I'm glad that you like the addition of them. I'm extremely glad that you think that my writing makes up for long waits, I'm really happy for that because I'm always afraid that people will think that I'm giving up on the fic and them because I'm taking so long so I hope this wasn't too long from my last update for ANE. Yunsung will be making more appearances later, don't worry, and I had to make him quite young because I wanted to be as close to the biographies of the original characters as possible even though Yunsung would need to be 12 in order to fit but that was way to young so I had to stretch it. I hope you liked his character thus far. I'm still thinking of where to put Astaroth and I'll think of something eventually. I hope you liked this update :)

To reika45: I'm trying to have the progress be as in-sync (I don't mean the band, I loath them) as possible so I'm glad you like it thus far. Another hidden but fictional character coming in since Taki mentioned her. The little bits that I put in will have more meaning for them as the story progresses so it should be good. With their chats online, I wish I could give some info about that but that would give an important hint away so I won't say anything but it'll be interesting when that 'hint' shows up for the readers. I hope you liked this update :)

To El Loco: Astaroth as Sophitia's landlord would be an interesting twist, I shall think some more about what other things he can be along with you're idea ;) Maybe he could be the town butcher, hey, he's good with axes and if that's not enough for the comedy aspect maybe he could be part-lawyer. Just an idea of my own. Just to let you know, this may be mean for a Astaroth person like you, but at this very moment that I'm writing this response, I'm listening to a song called "Looking Good, Feeling Gorgeous" by Rupaul and whenever the lyrics of 'she walks real steady, in her high-heel steppin', she's got lots of style, she's got lots of class' an image of Astaroth walking on a sidewalk stepping to the beat of the song just came to my head and cracked me up every time the chorus comes back. Just thought I'd share that with you. Thank your for your sucking up to my work ;P

To mentalretard: I hope my timing was alright and not to long for you. I hope you like this one :)

To Rain54: I'm waiting for the right moment for the affections to really surface, I'm planning on something to really give it a boost. I hope you liked this update as I think of other ideas for the next updates for this fic and my other fic.


	6. Emotions Brought by Love and War

OKAY! (Grins triumphantly) Finally got this done! Wow this is a long one though, I'm sorry of it's slow. I'm not very sure about it's slowness myself as I wrote during bits and pieces of my time (obviously) while I was gone for two weeks. This chapter was complicated but interesting to write so it should be good. I hope the length as well as the story itself make up for the amount of time I had to take.

I mean, this chapter is 20 pages long not counting my reviewer responses and the chapters of this fic are supposed to be no less than 14-16 pages. I'll move likely do the next chapter of this fic again since I did two chapters in a row for my other fic as well. But then again, you never know, things can change at a very fast pace. Anyway, I hope you like it and as always, let me know what you thought of it ;)

Do not own SC characters.

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Chapter 6: Emotions Brought by Love and War

"Well, that was embarrassing." Taki commented in a low tone as she rode inside Mina's burgundy, four-door Mazda3 car. She made sure to keep her eyes upon the passing skyscrapers even though they reflected the sun's orange-gold light off their thousands of windows. After the little escapade they went through, she was nervous that she would suddenly share eye contact with the blonde since they were both sitting in the back seat.

Sophitia felt even more nervous and had the same thoughts as Taki. The entire week seemed to go from bad to worse and lying on top of a woman four years older than her _while_ being on top of their professor's desk was the point where the line had been crossed. "No kidding." She responded before she sighed and propped her chin onto her arm which leaned on the car door. 'I don't know which of our little 'scenes' was worse; Professor Mau's desk, subway, or Taki under the kotatsu.' Inwardly groaning at the memory of all three, she ran her fingers through her golden fringe then let her palm run along the side of her face.

"At least it was an interesting and certainly entertaining sight." Yunsung commented from the front seat that he had eagerly called 'shotgun' for before they even got into the car, much to Mina's annoyance since she believed it was immature for him to do that.

Mina sharply turned to her cousin, knowing that his comment wasn't helping things and she could hear it by the sudden shifting movements from the back as well as a dull growl of aggravation. "Yunsung!" She slapped his shoulder, making him flinch. Although she realized that the auburn-haired boy was right since she remembered a grin crossing her lips when she laid eyes on their close contact. "As true as that may seem, you aren't raising any hopes here!" A smile seemed to involuntarily invade her lips as she scolded the bewildered Yunsung.

Sophitia felt her lip twitch in annoyance towards Mina's persistence that she never seemed to stop since they left. "You just can't stop yourself, can you?" She asked with a quirked eyebrow, only to have Mina pull her lips inside her mouth in an attempt to hold back her sniggers.

"I do have difficulties." Mina stated bemusedly as she glanced towards Sophitia, who sighed at the irritation she felt, although thinking that she should be used to her friend's childlike ways. Her green eyes darted to the streets, trying to find a way to change the subject as they stopped at a four-way intersection. However, one of the streets was blocked so that only public, not automobiles could pass as it led to a section of a small park anyway.

Within the street-way and park, people seemed to be preparing for something which the blonde could never figure out since they had started over two weeks ago. The oriental lamps hung from the streetlights as well as the strings of lights that went from one corner of a building to another at the opposite side. Racks of other lanterns with Asian characters were lifted next to what looked like sales booths. Other booths and stands for what Sophitia didn't know as they were still being set up along the sidewalks although she could guess that they were for games or something close to the sort.

"Hey Mina," Sophitia addressed while not noticing her friend's expression of slight surprise; Mina wasn't sure if she would still talk to her after what she said. "You go out a lot more than I do; any idea what that's all about?" The blonde asked as she pointed towards the construction in the blocked street.

"Uh…" Mina took a good glance towards the busy street as she tried to find an answer. "I'm not sure what that is myself." She stated quizzically while quickly pressing the gas peddle as the traffic began to move, only to cause a small jerk in the car's sudden movement. Of course as they passed the street that was filled with Asians for the preparations, Taki nearly slapped a hand on her face as she caught out of the corner of her eye a rigging full of lanterns and souvenirs nearly crash to the ground due to the clumsiness of one of the workers; it felt as though they were bringing the Asian population a class lower because of the incompetence they showed even if it was brief.

"It's just a new festival that started last year and made for Asians and anyone else willing to come. I think it's called the Departure of Blossoms Festival since it _is_ the middle of Fall." Taki seemed to voluntarily speak although in a dulled, simple-sounding tone. Her eyes swept to the passing trees planted within the sidewalks and finally took notice of their warm-colored leaves as she mentioned the season. "I'm surprised you didn't know that Mina, since you appear to have 'oriental' blood yourself." Pointing out assertively, Taki shifted in her seat and crossed her arms over her stomach as she spoke.

Mina quirked an eyebrow at Taki's statement. "Just so you know, I think you portray more of the 'oriental blood' than I do. And also, I didn't think there would be many Asian festivals in an American city." She responded simply, not taking her eyes off the road, thankfully.

Taki turned to the head of Mina's seat in front of her in slight surprise. "Are you kidding? They have Asian festivals year 'round; the Plum Blossom Festival, Taste of Chinatown, Sakura Matsuri: Cherry Blossom Festival, the Anime and Game Festival, which is my personal favorite, as well as the-"

"Alright! I get your point!" Mina interrupted exasperatedly with a whispered 'Geez!'

"That thing about the Anime and Game Festival doesn't really surprise me." Sophitia commented simply as she leaned her shoulder against her window.

Taki merely glanced at her. "I'm sure it doesn't. But Sakura is more of a fanatic about it than I am and Haitani always loves to tag along." She added then slowly leaned over towards Sophitia as something crossed her mind (of course at the same time, something else crossed her mind and hoped that Mina wouldn't suddenly jerk the wheel in another direction seeing as to how the Asian was leaning directly over Sophitia's upper chest. Otherwise, that would be another little 'fond' memory if Taki was accidentally lunged towards Sophitia in the wrong place). "You know, there's also a 'From The Grecian Isles' festival coming up in November." Since she knew that the blonde was indeed Greek, she couldn't help but mention this with a raised eyebrow.

The older woman slowly pulled back into her seat as Sophitia slowly turned to just look at her with indifference. "You don't need to tell me that; my father's part of it. So it's a bit hard to avoid anyway." She stated simply then sighed as she noticed the confused look Taki gave her. "My father's a baker. He has his own shop but it's relatively small so he sells most of his goods there since more people would be into the spirit of buying during the festival. That must be his favorite time of the year." Looking away for a second, she spoke simply until she thought of all the previous years of walking through that festival suddenly flowed into her head.

"I can understand why, knowing how traditional he sounded when you told me about him." Taki stated in what seemed like a tolerable fashion as she leaned back in her seat with her arms folded behind her head. Of course as she did this, the car suddenly began to slow and pull over by a curb, nearly making her fall forward into the back of Mina's seat. She looked out and was surprised to see that they made it back to Sophitia's apartment complex so quickly.

"Is this it, or did you have some other place in mind?" Mina turned as she asked Sophitia with raised eyebrows.

Sophitia shook her head. "This is perfect; I've already had enough for one day." Looking away as she referred to what happened in Professor Mau's office, she got out of the car with Taki, who was eager to stay in one place as well. "Thank you." She finished as she walked to Mina's window, knowing it was open.

"Anytime Sophie!" Yunsung popped his head out of the window at Mina's side, leaning over his cousin's lap in the process with a wide grin on his boyish face and an eager wave. Sophitia couldn't help but smile at his perky behavior and waved back until the older sepia-haired Korean austerely pushed her right arm in front of his chest.

"Get back you little urchin!" Mina yelled as she pushed him back into his seat. "You didn't drive here so why are you responding!" She asked with a glare.

Yunsung half-sneered as he quirked an eyebrow at her. "Firstly, I'm responding for more than one reason." Mina knew he was referring to the memorable image of seeing the Greek on top of Taki, which made her sneer in return at his dirty thoughts (although at the same time she tried not to grin as the image was hilarious to her). "And secondly, I think _I_ could've driven better than you can, even though I don't have my permit." He stated broadly and confidently, ignoring Mina's rolling eyes.

"Uh-huh." Mina merely responded as she turned to Sophitia. "See you at school?" She asked with a slightly raised eyebrow, already knowing the older girl's answer. However, Mina was just able to hear Sophitia's "Yep" as Yunsung lunged at his cousin again.

"In fact, gimme the wheel!" Yunsung demanded as he grabbed a side of the steering wheel and attempted to hold onto it as Mina was trying to push his hands away.

"No way!" Mina growled before the turned to both girls on the sidewalk who looked at the kindred pair with bemused concern. "I… _sigh_… I'll see you later; I have to strap him down. Bye." She rolled up her window with Yunsung still struggling to get passed her, although he was still able to raise his hand and bring back his eager expression as he yelled his goodbye.

Apart from their slight waving, the two on the sidewalk didn't move as they watched the burgundy car drive off into the moderately busy street. "Think they're going to be okay?" Taki asked while lowering her hand to her side as she continued to watch as they steadily increased speed.

Sophitia paused as she kept her eyes onto the car. "I believe s-…" She stopped as she watched the car swerve, no doubt Yunsung being the cause by lunging at her again. "I hope…" Once again, she stopped as the car swerved again however nearly into another smaller car. This made her a bit more uneasy so she watched until they were out of their field of view. The slightly shorter girl sighed then turned to the glass-paned front door. "We'll find out tomorrow." She finally finished with Taki close behind.

"No offense towards your friend, but I kind of wonder how she made it into NYU." Taki commented as she leaned against one of the elevator's walls while Sophitia pressed the level number on the panel.

The blonde chuckled in response as she leaned against another of the elevator's walls. "I'm not exactly sure myself. All I know is that she gets herself through and I guess I'm content knowing that." She added as she folded her arms behind her back while they stayed silent until they heard the 'ding!' of their arrival onto their floor.

Taki stepped into the apartment first and basically fell into the couch from slight exhaustion from the day, even though the daylight hours hadn't reached their end yet. Her oriental eyes fell onto the cat, which sat in front of the glass door that led out onto the balcony. Its tail wagged gracefully yet eagerly as its blue eyes were wide and glued to the balcony, a behavior at which Taki's eyes furrowed in curiosity. Her eyes darted to a bird as it flew onto the balcony and was just able to hear a slight tapping sound which the cat made with its paws against the glass door. As more birds flew passed, the more the cat's paws tapped as if it was an addiction and wanted to catch the birds between its paws. Taki nearly laughed at how eager Ember looked with its needing yet predator-like expression.

As the Asian was preoccupied with the cat, Sophitia pulled out the mail that she had previously received although didn't have the time to sort through. She flipped through each one; a muscle soon pulled at a corner of her lips in worry as her eyes landed upon the 'Rent' notice given by her apartment manager, then her worry changed to intrigue as she flipped to the next letter which was one that she didn't recognize. Her eyes widened as she noticed that a corner of the letter indicated that it was from Greece, and there was only one person that she knew who still lived within that country…

The Grecian glanced at Taki, making sure that she hadn't seen the surprised look she had seconds ago. Pulling all her letters in her arms, she nonchalantly made her way to her room to read the native yet familiar language of a certain special someone.

Taki waited for Sophitia to return so that she could present the cat's continuing display to her, although she was quite confused about the hasty way that the younger girl had exited the room as well as why it was taking her so long to reenter. When she did come back, Taki tried not to mention the look that Sophitia held; it seemed fraught with questions. "Hey, take a look at your cat." Taki motioned to the very preoccupied cat, and then her eyes furrowed as Sophitia's eyes suddenly snapped to hers as if she had just noticed her then swept her gaze to the cat, which at least brought out a chuckle.

"Yeah, she does that a lot, that's why I never let her out on the balcony otherwise she'd jump right off." She explained as she leaned her head on her arm which leaned onto the arm of the couch.

"Smart-thinking." Taki responded before a yawn caught up to her, making her stretch slightly. "What are we going to do now? May I ask?" The older woman asked as she shifted to rest her back against the couch's arm on her own side.

Sophitia rolled her neck before she looked at her watch. "Well, it's 6:38 now. Maybe I can help you in math since we weren't able to do it last time." She suggested in a neutral tone due to her own idleness

Taki's eyes snapped to the side of her face as she was looking away. "N-now?" Her tone sounded spiritless at what Sophitia suggested.

The Greek slowly turned to her with knowing eyes at what she was thinking. "Want to wait?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes." Taki answered simply but her eyes still remained still upon the other girl's.

"How long?" Sophitia shifted until she was almost completely towards her and was looking at her with what looked like intrigue.

"'Couple days?" The older woman knew that that wasn't going to work but she figured that she might as well give it a try.

Sophitia sighed through her nose as she blinked. "'Couple minutes?" The scholar's tone didn't make it sound like a question and Taki could very easily sense that, which made her let out a loud sigh as she looked away.

"I'll take it. Just let me do something in the meantime." Not waiting for Sophitia to respond, she reluctantly pushed herself off of the couch and made her way to her room.

"Sure, go ahead." Sophitia encouraged while trying not to sound sarcastic since she wasn't trying to be anyway. She laid herself completely on her back with her hands behind her hand, feeling her eyes become slightly heavy. "It's not like I'd attach a 1 ton ball and chain to your ankle to keep you in one place for the entire night." Adding with a quirked eyebrow at the idea, she let her eyes close yet she still had enough energy in her to not fall asleep.

Taki stopped herself inside of the hallway and held in her smirk as she turned back and poked her head back out into the living room. Her eyes landed on the younger girl's relaxed form. "With you, you never really know." Her smirk broke through as Sophitia opened one eye and just glared at her in response. Taki quickly went back towards her room, shut the door behind her and fired up her laptop after she jumped on her navy-sheeted bed with a bounce. Hoping that her chat friend was online, she also hoped that she would have enough time to speak to her before Sophitia would pull her back into the living room.

8

Sophitia laid her arm over her eyes as she sighed. 'She's just like Mina; she just never stops!' The blonde thought while being relieved that Taki was in her room so that she could have silence of her own. However, the silence soon was broken as a very dull chime came to her ears from the direction of her desktop. Springing herself upright to look at her computer, she grinned as her messenger was blinking on the screen. She pulled herself out of the couch and nearly jumped straight into her cushioned, revolvable chair and read her friend's message:

"**DragonMistress48: **Are you there?"

Sophitia read the small message quickly as she wanted to reply just as fast. "**SacredEmblem12:** Whenever it says I'm 'online' then you'd know I'm here :)"

'_B-ring!'_ "**DragonMistress48:** Well I know that, but I just wanted to make sure :) Did your day go well?"

Sophitia's shoulders almost dropped as she read her friend's question; she was getting tired of having the embarrassing images pop up into her head. "**SacredEmblem12:** Don't ask, surely worse than yours."

'_B-ring!'_ "**DragonMistress48: **Heh, don't be too sure. It was pretty bad, but at least it's a little easy to get over."

Quirking an eyebrow, Sophitia became curious of what went on during her friend's day but decided not to ask as she felt like she would be pressing the issue. Plus she knew that her friend would ask about her own day and Sophitia really didn't want to talk about or explain it, especially when she didn't know how to explain it herself. A thought popped into Sophitia's head as she heard the city commotion from the balcony door which she had opened a bit just to let some air in but not let a certain feline out. "**SacredEmblem12:** Do you know about the Departure of Blossoms festival?" She knew that asking about the festival was a long shot as two out of three people had heard of it but she wanted to give it a try.

'_B-ring!'_ "**DragonMistress48:** Uh, yeah, why do you ask?"

Sophitia hesitated as she read the reply; not knowing exactly why she asked herself. "**SacredEmblem12: **Oh,I don't know, I was just wondering if you were going."

8

Taki just blinked at the reply; she wasn't sure if she was going. Then again she wasn't sure if she had a choice in the matter as her father had made her go last year despite how many times she said that she didn't want to. When she went last year, she _did_ find some parts at least interesting and in different ways, so now she felt pretty neutral about the idea. "**DragonMistress48: **I might. Why? Are you going to go?" Taki quirked an eyebrow as the question came into her head; it was an interesting thought.

'_B-ring!' _"**SacredEmblem12: **I…I'm not sure, I just heard about it today. So like you, I might. I will if you will ;)"

The Asian bit her bottom lip; this was getting really tempting! She wanted to go just for the idea of catching a glance at someone who would be her chat-line friend. Her mind wandered over to Sophitia and her heart sunk slightly; she remembered the look of almost carelessness at the topic and she also knew how much of a study-fanatic she was. She sighed as she typed her reply. "**DragonMistress48:** I definitely would if you were going to go, however the problem is my roommate. She's the kind of person who likes to stay in all the time and study and she's been trying to help me with my grades, so I'm sure she'll try and keep me in and I don't think that sneaking out would be an option."

'_B-ring!' _"**SacredEmblem12:** (Frowns) Well, I guess that's good for you on the academic level but bad for _us_, even though we'd have no idea what the other looks like. I think she should liven herself up a bit or at least let you live the way you want to."

'_B-ring!' _"**SacredEmblem12: **But I don't think I'd go then since I wouldn't have anyone to go with since my own family is strange in their own ways ;P And I might be too busy at the point anyway since my schedule seems to change constantly lately."

Taki chuckled as she read her friend's criticism of her own family then relating that description to her Japanese family, finding a similarity easily. She glanced towards her clock and sputtered as she noticed that fifteen minutes had already passed. Knowing that Sophitia would surely knock on her door at any moment, she tried to finish up their conversation with much reluctance. "**DragonMistress48:** LOL. About family and schedules, I know the feeling, believe me :) But speaking of my 'dearest' roommate, she might be calling me any time know to catch up on the subject I'm worst at. Maybe we can continue this later tonight?" The ebony-haired woman almost clasped her hands together and prayed that her friend would have a positive response.

'_B-ring!' _"**SacredEmblem12: **I'm not sure, I've got something going on myself, but I'll sure try :)"

This left Taki to be a little disappointed since the answer was unsure, but she trusted her word and smiled faintly as she wrote her goodbye and didn't log off until she saw SacredEmblem return it.

88

Sophitia had quirked an eyebrow at Taki's impeccable timing but soon brushed it to the side as she continued to flip through the sheets of her roommate's Math binder. She scanned each page once again, trying to get a deeper feel of what and how Taki was doing and found that the math this older woman was doing was the kind that Sophitia figured 'beginner/moderate of difficulty' college standard-wise. However, with all the check-marks on the questions, Taki must have thought of it as moderate/advanced difficulty. Sophitia sighed inwardly in slight aggravation towards all that she would have to re-teach this woman.

"Okay," The Grecian started as she turned the binder towards Taki although not looking up at her as she pointed to a question that was marked completely wrong. "Firstly, your theorems are completely mixed up, you've got your midpoint, distance and slope for (5, 1) and (3, -4) way off; Slope y2 – y1/ x2 – x1. Distance radical (x2-x1)2 + (y2-y1)2. And Midpoint is… Taki?" As Sophitia glanced up during her explanations, she noticed that Taki was staring almost dreamily out the balcony doors into the dull sunset light that was slowly aging into darkness. 'She didn't hear a word I said, huh?' The blonde's shoulders dropped as she looked at the woman who paid absolutely no attention to her.

"Taki." Sophitia addressed in a normal tone along with a simple blink. "Taki." This time, she called a little louder accompanied by a small whistle to attract her attention, but to no avail; Taki just brushed her bangs out of one of her eyes then leaned her cheek on the heel of her palm as she continued to play 'space cadet' in her lost thoughts. Sophitia took in a breath and let it out in a harsh sigh as she crumpled up a sheet of loose-leaf paper and tossed it in Taki's direction.

Taki almost sputtered as she was abruptly brought out of her thoughts by a light object hitting the side of her forehead and bouncing lightly to the ground, only to be batted around by the cat's paws. At the time, she didn't believe she was anywhere anyway, just staring blankly into space out of pure boredom, so it didn't really bother her all that much; of course the other reason for her not minding Sophitia's tactic was because her own siblings would do that to each other all the time, whether for play or not. Her brown eyes swept up to Sophitia's, however slightly narrowed to at least show a sign of aggravation as if to humor the younger girl's action.

"You rang?" Taki asked with a quirked eyebrow and a cocky tone.

Sophitia sighed audibly as she ran a hand over her face. "Do you have ADD or something? You're always zoning out and never paying attention." She commented as Taki shifted to face the younger woman completely.

"Well I'm sorry, but since it's so late in the day, the wakefulness begins to fall and I usually need something to pump up the blood and make me more willing to work." Taki answered in a rather gesticulate fashion.

Sophitia merely blinked at her slowly before laying her chin on her steepled fingers. "Well then why didn't you tell me? I could've gotten you a few sugar packets, one every minute, that should keep you wide awake." The scholar suggested jokingly as she cocked her head to one side while Taki just looked up at her then looked to the side, grumbling in reply. Sophitia looked down as she shifted in her seat. "Well then, what _does_ help you to be 'pumped up' for sessions like this?" She quirked an eyebrow as she waited for Taki's answer.

At first, Taki just went back into her blank expression, her eyes darting from one corner of her eye to the other as she tried to think as she wasn't too sure herself of how to 'pump' herself up. However, as if on queue, the 'vrooom' of a motorcycle passing their street caught Taki's ears, which slowly made her grin from ear to ear as she turned to the younger girl.

Sophitia's eyes were furrowed in confusion, then widened in what looked like horror. "You can't be serious; so late at night? How's that going to help you with your focusing?" Her tone was almost suspicious as she quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, it gets my blood going." Taki explained simply as she stood herself up to get her keys. "It kind of excites me, especially when I'm going at a good speed. And besides," The Asian woman walked around to Sophitia and took her hand. "You look like you need a little 'pumping up' as well since you looked like you were about to fall asleep on me a few seconds ago." With an insisting tone, she pulled the reluctant Sophitia to her feet.

"Y'know, there's two things that I find wrong with this: One, you were actually paying attention to how I was looking a few minutes ago yet you can't focus on your own work. And two, you know I hate motorcycles!" Sophitia protested rather mildly as she tried to get her hand back from Taki's grasp, however soon finding that the woman's grip was very strong although not very painful. She pulled back in nervousness as she noticed her smirk and a soft glint in the taller woman's chocolate eyes.

"Oh come on." Taki seemed to have a knowing look in her eyes which made Sophitia's eyebrows furrow. "I've ridden my motorcycle many times; I can use it better than anyone, so you have nothing to fear with me. You may be stubborn but you can't be _this_ stubborn to not try and defeat a fear." She held her smirk as she quirked an eyebrow at the younger girl who looked back at her with indifference.

"You're calling _me_ stubborn? What do you think you're doing now?" Sophitia returned the quirked eyebrow while Taki rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh as she pulled Sophitia towards the door while grabbing her navy jacket as well as Sophitia's brown coat to have against the chill of the November air.

By the time they reached Taki's red and black Kawasaki Ninja, Sophitia tried to point out that they she needed a helmet, using that as an excuse not to ride. Taki only grinned at this as she pulled out a second helmet which was of normal design which covered all the way to the chin and was black with a clear visor.

"Remember, I have many siblings and never know when one may need a ride." Taki explained with a smug smile that Sophitia furrowed her eyes at. She took in a breath to relieve the tension she was feeling, from both aggravation and nervousness, and reluctantly slipped the helmet on. Swinging her leg over the motorbike and taking her seat behind Taki, she wrapped her arms around the older girl and held on so tightly that the ebony-haired had some trouble pulling air into her lungs. "Geez! I haven't even started the engine yet and you're already holding me for dear life!" Taki proclaimed exasperatedly as she shifted to make herself a bit more comfortable.

Sophitia looked up at her from behind and lifted the visor as well as her eyebrow. "Just thought I'd prepare myself for what's coming." She replied in a cocky tone then shut her visor again and wrapped her arms tight around the older woman's waist, just catching the look Taki gave her before she let her gaze drop back down. 'I can't help it if I have a fear of these things! I've hated them since I heard those stories about horrible accidents so how can I not act this way?' Sophitia thought defensively. 'She should feel content knowing that I even walked up to her bike, let alone give me a ride on it.' Her heart began to pound as she noticed the engine rumble to a start beneath her.

"'Guess I don't need to tell you to hold on tight then." With that, Taki slid on her red and black motocross helmet and snapped the visor shut before she used her legs to push herself out of her parking spot. She eagerly wrapped her hand around the clutch handle and slowly started their way out of the parking garage…

8

The only things that Sophitia saw were lights speeding past her, all from cars, buildings or streetlights and all of which where enhanced by the little light of dusk. While the sounds were the honks from time to time from the cars that sped past and around the Asian biker, the motorcycle's engine and Taki's nearly maniacal laughter brought on by the excitement of the moment's rush.

Taki wound her way around every automobile that got in her way, which didn't help Sophitia's nerves one bit. Instead of going around one block, like the Grecian had hoped, the older woman went around at least five blocks. Sophitia easily learned that Taki loved to do sharp turns and press on the gas, which caused her to hold on even tighter and clamp her eyes shut.

For Taki, however, it just felt like an awesome rollercoaster ride; speeding up in straight lanes whether they were open or not, leaning from one side to the other as she did her sharp turns at intersections, feeling her muscles tense in excitement and dodging every moronic driver that was either just very poor at driving or thought that he/she could do better than what Taki pulled off in front of them. It was a euphoric and exhilarating experience for Taki as it felt like she was playing her own action-packed video game, dodging any obstacle that came her way while having the widest grin of excitement on her face.

'C'mon, c'mon! You can do better than that! Show them that these streets were made for you! Go faster!' Taki could feel her heart pump faster in enthusiasm as her wild, daring conscience yelled inside her head. She would have been more than willing to oblige, however, she knew that she was better, more respectable than that and the pain of Sophitia's arms wrapped constictingly around her ribs reminded her that there was also the responsibility of having another person's life in her hands.

Sophitia snuck a look over Taki's shoulder and noticed that her motorcycle's clock indicated that an hour had passed since they left. She was about to speak when she noticed that they had wound up in Times Square, which ultimately took her attention away from the matter. Taki was apparently at a red light so she took her time to gaze at the many lit billboards and adds absolutely covered with flashing, multicolored lights. It was rare for her to end up at this part of the city so she had trouble taking her eyes off the many lights.

'I feel like a moth.' Sophitia quirked an eyebrow as the thought popped up in her head; it sounded like a cocky comment that Taki would say if she was watching her passenger right now. Of course the only reason she felt so much awe in this square was because even though she had promised Cassandra that she would bring her here, she had never really seen it as well as she did now since she always like to stay at either her apartment or the university library.

Her thoughts quickly changed as another motorcyclist stopped next to Taki with his Yamaha bike which showed the engine. Taki easily noticed the presence since she could feel their eyes upon her. Both Sophitia and Taki could tell that the cyclist was a young male even though he had a green and black helmet on; the fact that he had no bust gave that away. Taki peered over to him and saw a certain glint in his mischievous blue eyes. He rezzed his engine and gave out a competitive rumble. Taki could just see the grin beneath his helmet and she returned the glint, which of course Sophitia noticed. Her eyes widened as her eyes caught the readiness in the other woman's wrists and palms as she held the handlebars tighter.

Sophitia quickly grasped Taki's arm as she spoke next to her ear. "Taki, don't you dare!" Her voice portrayed more desperation than demand. Her eyebrows furrowed as she noticed that the sports-fan seemed to be paying little attention to her. "Taki listen, I've you're going to do something like this – killing yourself – at least let me off!" She spoke as she hastily tried to jump off the bike as the traffic was still waiting for the light to turn green. However, her eyes widened as she felt Taki pulled her back on with a rather suggestive smile.

"Don't worry, it'll be quick." Taki spoke loud enough so that her competitor could hear, which was confirmed as the male biker quickly turned, ready for the light to turn green and for the drag race to begin. Sophitia took in a breath and held onto Taki as tightly as the opposing biker was holding onto his handlebars. She noticed that her roommate's muscles were strangely relaxed as if she had full confidence in her skills. However the tension she felt didn't fade as she heard them both pull their throttles as if to intimidate each other.

Sophitia watched as the light turned green, shutting her eyes and holding on tightly as she heard the loud screeches and smell of burning tires. Something was wrong, however; Taki's motorcycle didn't seem to be moving at a fast pace, or at any pace at all then again, they were stationary within the lane. Opening one eye, she noticed that their opponent had madly sped off onto the streets and was finally able to conclude that they actually hadn't moved, which made her bewildered green eyes look up from Taki's back to her oriental face.

Taki seemed to look out towards the streets with indifference as she calmly turned the corner, heading back to the apartment. She knew that Sophitia would be confused so she glanced back with a wink. "I told you it'd be quick." She smiled. "This is NYC, who in their right mind would drag race in this city, especially during the night!" Rolling her eyes at the thought of someone doing such a thing, Taki continued her way, leaning on every turn while Sophitia made sure to do the same (knowing full well that the Grecian would fall off if she didn't).

Sophitia's jaw almost dropped; Taki had both herself and the other biker worked up over nothing! "Then why did you lead that guy on?" She spoke incredulously.

Taki merely smirked. "Because I wanted him to look stupid since he was willing to do such a stupid thing. I hate people who don't portray common sense." She stated simply as she took what she believed to be a short cut to the apartment complex to end up pulling into the darkly lit garage almost fifteen minutes later.

"I just don't understand you." Sophitia suddenly commented as she held onto Taki tightly even though they had made it into a parking spot; she looked as though she was still afraid to remove her arms after the many scares that the older woman had given her on the 'forsaken' motorcycle.

Much to the blonde's slight confusion, Taki merely chuckled as if her assertion amused her. "What is there to not understand?" She spoke as she removed her helmet then tried to stand only to be pulled back down by Sophitia's tightly wrapped arms. "Wou-would you…?" Her voice was hardly audible as she tried to pry the younger girl's tensing arms off of her.

"Just you in general!" Sophitia answered as she tried to unlace her fingers then, with some difficulty, released Taki's waist. She attempted to unclasp the helmet only to find that her hands were shaking almost uncontrollably, making her fingers fumble in her efforts. Taki swung her leg off her bike then noticed Sophitia's increasing aggravation with the helmet, which almost made her laugh but held it in as she took the helmet off for her. The younger girl sighed audibly as she slumped slightly and seemed to stare at the motorcycle's frame with a look of distaste until she noticed that Taki held out a hand to help her off the leather seat. Sophitia looked at her in a somewhat suspicious way then slowly took her hand.

She lifted one leg only to lose feeling in the joint of the other as her legs felt weak and shaky as well. The feeling didn't seem to return in time and soon felt herself fall to the side only to be caught by the quick reflexes of Taki's arms. 'Ugh.' Sophitia felt like slapping the back of her head for her action. 'I should've seen that coming; the muscles in my legs tensed the entire time I was on that… _thing_.' She scowled at the leaning-based motorbike as she thought this, declaring that she would never ride a motorcycle of any type or brand again. However, her thoughts were soon shifted to Taki as she was still leaning against the woman with her head against her upper chest.

Taki seemed to be in the position of an embrace with the Grecian girl as her arms were wrapped around her, holding her up. Sophitia could feel her even breaths against her forehead, fluttering her golden bangs with each exhale. She could also feel the warmth from her flesh and steady heartbeat through her clothes, soon feeling the thumping her own as it began to race from the closeness between them as well as now recognizing the fact that her own palms rested against the physically taut abdomen while her fingers wrapped around her sides. Her eyes widened as she pushed away, thankful that the feeling now decided to return to her muscles. "Wha-what are you doing?" Sophitia stuttered, wrapping her coat tighter around herself.

Taki furrowed her eyebrows at the girl's sudden strange behavior; she hadn't realized the representation of their brief embrace. "I was waiting for you to stand! I was wondering what was taking you so long. What, did you think I would just drop you on the pavement?" She quirked an eyebrow as she asked but didn't wait for an answer as she turned and headed for the elevator with Sophitia close to her heels.

88

Sophitia sighed while folding her arms over her stomach as she entered and waited in the elevator; she didn't feel like discussing it. 'At least it wasn't as embarrassing as the others.' She noted while trying to look at the bright side of things.

Once they entered the apartment for the second time that day, they both merely threw their coats onto the wooden chairs by the kitchen counter then settled themselves under to kotatsu. Taki cracked her neck then grabbed a nearby pencil. "Okay, I'm ready. Lay the questions on me." She declared as she waited for Sophitia to address her errors in her Math assignments.

Sophitia looked at her as if surprised at the sudden readiness, then seemed to smirk in an approving fashion as she brought out the wrongly calculated equations. 'Well, I guess that rather frightening spin around the city did help her a bit.' She observed as she watched Taki's expression become more focused and at least a bit more determined than before, which made a smile break through.

"Can I ask you one question though?" Taki suddenly looked up with a small glint of curiosity in her eyes, which made Sophitia lift an intrigued eyebrow. "What is it that you don't understand about me? Seriously." 'I'm relatively easy to understand; I'm just a masculine girl who likes motorcycles and sports while obviously having a certain personality of my own.' Taki reflected as if it all was simple while Sophitia seemed to pause as though uncomfortable with the question however willing to answer somehow.

"I didn't expect a competitive sports-lover like you to actually turn down a drag race. Especially after you went through the streets as if you were in the middle of one." Sophitia started with a knowingly quirked eyebrow and a hidden smirk.

Taki rolled her eyes as she chuckled within her throat; she looked as though she took it as a compliment. She shrugged as she spoke. "Well, what can I say? I love the rush when I do those things, as well as catching a few eyes on the streets even though they might turn into scowls." Raising an eyebrow, she knew that she must have gotten a few of those dirty looks from the other drivers. She inwardly shrugged at the thought to brush it off. "It's kind of a way of impressing the onlookers who see me as well as impressing myself." She added.

"_That's_ what I mean." Sophitia's tone was still soft but sounded as if it was laced with steel; her eyes expressed seriousness. "Using that other biker as an example, people, especially college students, always seem to want to impress or intimidate using their overactive testosterone and can be obnoxious on or off the campus while being completely lazy when it comes to schoolwork. And from what I've heard and seen, they also show no respect for the rules at times." She concluded in an almost philosophical manner, which made Taki lower her head slightly as if she felt put-down by what Sophitia seemed to be implying to her.

"Well, just to remind you, I obviously don't have testosterone to show off. And secondly, you're making me sound as if I'm some kind of bully." Taki quirked an eyebrow as she mentioned this.

Sophitia sighed as she shifted in her seat. "I'm not, I used the biker as an example, remember? Not you." She matched Taki's quirked eyebrow, who's soon fell as she did the same that Sophitia had done seconds ago. Sophitia ran a hand through her hair before she looked down at the table-top. "Anyway, the reason I don't understand you is because you seem to have no respect for the rules on the streets while you refused to do the thing you love most: competing against someone else to prove your worth." She finished as she leaned her elbows onto the table-top while hoping that Taki wouldn't take all that she said as an offense.

Taki merely blinked at her although Sophitia could tell that many thoughts were crossing her mind. The 'sports-lover' merely shifted her sitting position, rolling her back in attempt to stretch it before she leaned her chin into her palm which was propped up on her elbow on the tabletop.

"Y'know," She started calmly, holding no shreds of anger in her eyes but instead slight understanding to the scholar's reasoning. "You say that I have no respect for the rules, well you may be right in some cases. _But_, after living all my years with a family of my origin, being under the same traditional rules of my Japanese culture as well as my Buddhist religion, it all starts to… well, it starts to make you go insane. Obviously, Haitani's radically spiky hair and perverted sense of humor is an example of how much the traditions get to us."

The Asian leaned back as her eyes went down to her equations just to look them over. "Hell, none of my siblings are as traditional or as disciplined as we Asians are supposed to be. Well, apart from Tsakoto, she's very disciplined and relatively traditional, being the role model that she is for the rest of us." She added in a low tone as she tried to go through the equations as quickly as possible so that she could get to sleep, or even better, chat with SacredEmblem again.

Sophitia blinked at her now hunching-over form as the older woman was leaning on one of her elbows again. What Taki explained was true, so Sophitia believed from her own experiences concerning her family and heritage. She certainly tolerated and believed in her Greek heritage, however there would be times when she felt that she wanted to take a break from it for a time. "I can relate." She spoke up in a low voice, making Taki's eyes snap up to her own.

Although it was faint, Taki smiled in return along with knowing eyes. "Oh I know you can; being stuffed underneath this very table when only your sister showed up pretty much proved that." Her smile became more noticeable as Sophitia smirked with playfully narrowed eyes; they had finally found something they could agree upon, and it, strangely, reminded them much of their pen pals on the internet. Taki's eyes suddenly shot away from Sophitia's as she rubbed her nape tentatively. "By the way, if… um… if I scared you on the motorcycle, I didn't mean to… I guess I kind of just got lost in the rush." The oriental eyes kept themselves upon the sheets of paper in front of her as she heard herself fumble in her speech; she had never been very good at apologies since, having a masculine personality, never felt that she absolutely had to do so until now.

Sophitia let out a hard sigh as she looked down, a faint smile playing on her lips. "I kind of saw it coming since I was afraid of motorcycles anyway. At least you were skilled enough to not get us in a car crash or something like that." She spoke as she rubbed her nape although trying to sound positive.

"Heh, I told you I was good." Taki smirked as she glanced up before she went back down to her old assignment. As she gazed at it with no luck of finding the correct answer, they revision of this subject made her remember something. "Oh, and by the way, I have Math, History and English unit tests sometime this week so-gack!" She pulled her arms up as she saw a pillow fly at her. "Hey! What'd I do?" Looking up as she asked incredulously, she noticed Sophitia's very quirked eyebrow and slightly narrowed eyes.

"You're telling me this _now_?" Sophitia spoke just as incredulously as Taki's eyes portrayed. "At the rate you're going with you're math alone I'd say that I would have to tutor you every night now." She groaned as she ran a hand over her face then through her long hair, trying to relieve herself of the aggravation and stress she now felt. Peering over to Taki, she nearly smirked as she saw the older woman's slacked jaw, knowing that her decision of nightly tutoring was the cause. Before Taki had time to defend herself as well as her time, Sophitia spoke quickly. "I know how low your grades are now, nightly sessions on each subject will benefit you greatly, Taki. Believe me, I don't like the idea of tutoring every night either but I'm doing this for you. Trust me." Her tone was of soft confidence, which eased the dull tension on Taki's jaw as she brought it back up.

Taki sighed then nodded in her usual reluctance as she looked back down to her paper before finally declaring that she couldn't figure it out. Sophitia willingly helped her the rest of the way during the times when she appeared to be struggling. At first, Taki had an idea that Sophitia's ways of remembering the different theorems would be useless and confusing to her, but, much to her surprise, she eventually noticed herself understanding and knowing how to do at least certain equations.

After doing and memorizing three to four different theorems, Sophitia looked up to notice that over and hour had already passed. Noticing Taki's as well as her own slight drowsiness, she finally ended the session, much to Taki's delight. Taki closed the heavy binder and stuffed it into her bag when her eye caught Sophitia's hand as she pulled out her English binder and laid it on the Kotatsu, flipping through the pages until she found what looked like some sort of short story. Although by the number of pages in the story's packet it didn't seem 'short' at all.

Taki blinked, quite confused. "Aren't you going to get to sleep? It's almost ten." She asked as she zipped her bag and placed it on a chair by the kitchen counter to help her remember it in the morning.

Sophitia kept her eyes on the many lines of the short story. "No. I would, but I just want to finish this so that I could get ahead in class and not worry about it later." The younger girl leaned her cheek into her palm as she answered simply.

Taki raised her eyebrows; spending almost two hours tutoring then going straight to another subject for who knew how long made her mind boggle. 'I would never last that long, especially not so late at night, maybe if it was a project or something I would, but otherwise…' She thought as she just stared at the scholar blankly before turning to go into her room. "Well then, um, 'night." Speaking softly as she wasn't sure what to say in reply anyway, she came towards her room while hearing a faint, sighing "'Night" from her roommate.

Flopping onto her bed while dodging both her laptop and the sand-colored cat that suddenly decided to join her (like every night), she reluctantly concurred not to try and contact SacredEmblem as it was so late that she guessed that she would be asleep anyway.

Groaning at the fact that she didn't have her nightwear on yet she was so tired, she forced herself off of her laying position and threw just any nightwear on in her view, not caring whether they matched or not (she didn't see the point of having to wear matching tops and bottoms anyway). She flicked off her lamp that was on her dresser and let herself fall back into bed with a bounce while hearing and feeling the cat jump a bit in surprise then soon settle around her own pillow in a curled-up ball with its paw over its eyes.

88

Taki found her eyes snapping open as she felt her mouth go dry and her long, silky nightwear feel moist in certain areas. The room, or her bed at least, felt quite hot. She sleepily glanced passed the ball of fur over to her digital clock only to read that it was one-nineteen in the morning. Knowing that at least she didn't have to get up yet, she wanted nothing more than to let her head fall back onto her pillow and hopefully sleep through her own morning alarm. But, the aridness of her mouth and body called for hydration as she pushed herself off of her bed to get a glass of water or any other liquid substance.

She stepped into the kitchen and reached into the refrigerator to pull out bottled iced tea (even though it wasn't hers but she hoped that Sophitia wouldn't mind, if she found out that is). Taking her first sip, she turned around to take a look out at the balcony only to end up both spitting out and choking on her midnight beverage as her eyes had landed on a shadowy figure on the floor of the living room.

Her muscles tensed defensively but then slowly relaxed as she noticed that the figure was not only still but had golden hair, so which she could tell by the little light from the moon and the building next door. She merely blinked at it, took two more gulps of the iced tea as her thirst hadn't been quenched yet, then set the bottle down on the counter before slowly and soundlessly stepping towards the figure.

Her eyes softened as she found Sophitia laying on the floor asleep, a pen still between her fingers of her right hand, the English binder below where her cheek rested and her legs still underneath the kotatsu. Of course, Taki felt like slapping the back of her head and rolling her eyes at her surprised actions in the kitchen; who else would it have been? Her shoulders dropped and her eyes darted to the corner of the room as she sighed at herself, thinking she should've been more fearless as well if it _was_ somebody else.

Sophitia seemed to shift and give out a low sigh, making Taki's eyes drop back to her own to be relieved at the fact that she was still asleep. After all, it would to be difficult to explain why Taki would be looming over the Grecian in the first place. Scratching the back of her head, the only think she could think of doing was to carry the sleeping girl to her bedroom since Taki didn't want to leave her there on the cold floor all night.

She stretched her arm muscles then leaned down to gently bring Sophitia into her arms, soon finding that her weight was lighter than she would've expected although certainly heavier than the kotatsu. Knowing that fact, she staggered a bit as she lifted her strong back upwards. While lifting herself to stand almost straight and just as she felt so proud of herself in doing that, she felt the younger girl slip down in between her arms a few times. But, she was able to lift the girl back up, however by doing something she never though she'd ever do; placing her hands on Sophitia's butt and lifting it back up, thusly feeling her palms press into the younger girl's backside.

Her eyes dropped down to Sophitia's face and was lucky to find that she was still asleep. She quirked an eyebrow as she felt the softness of Sophitia's backside in her palms. 'If you're awake and making me do all this because you're lazy, I'm _really_ going to find a way to get back at you and it won't be pretty.' Taki thought, then sighed as she gazed at Sophitia's content expression as her cheek laid against her shoulder. 'I'm sure she is asleep though, if she was she'd probably accuse me of attempted rape or something… like last time.' Much to her own surprise she found herself inwardly chuckling as she recalled the memory of Sophitia's death glare when she found Taki leaning on all fours over her little sister's partly sprawled body, not knowing the real story.

Feeling her arm muscles begin to ache, Taki carried Sophitia to her room, which just _had _to be at the very end of the hallway and not closer like her own bedroom, but that was certainly _not_ an option. While she walked, and came closer to the door, she looked down as she remembered the moistness on her very long, silk nightshirt and the coolness around her legs reminded her that she had thrown on a very short and tight pair of shorts-like pajama bottoms. These were being covered from view by her extremely long, button-up shirt so it almost looked as if she was wearing nothing underneath.

'Oh… _great._' Taki bit her lip in nervousness, now being extra cautious of her movements so that she wouldn't wake her sleeping roommate up as she made her way through the door, which she had to nudge open with her foot, making the task even more difficult. She tried to gradually lean forward over the blue and silver-sheeted bed (which still had ruffled covers from morning, so at least placing the sheets over her would be a bit easier to do), easing Sophitia onto it. 'If she wakes up and finds me nearly _on_ top of her, _on_ her bed, _holding_ her butt while having an arm wrapped underneath her _thighs_, and looking as though I'm not wearing _anything_ underneath this _sweaty_ silk shirt, she really _will_ think that I'm trying to rape her in her sleep!' As she laid the girl down upon the mattress, she kept chiming "_Please_ don't wake up" in a voice that was hardly audible. She grit her teeth slightly and clamped her eyes shut as she tried to pull her arms from underneath her shoulder blades and thighs in as slowly as she could.

Sophitia let out a small groan, making Taki's wide eyes snap to her face as she let out a small "Eeep!" in surprise. The blonde's eyes furrowed for a split second before she shifted in a way that she lifted her back up as she rolled onto her side, away from the now-relieved Taki. The Asian pulled back, keeping her eyes upon Sophitia's form as the Grecian moved her hands underneath the pillow her head laid upon. Taki sighed as she let her eyes close to calm herself, believing that she was almost a goner.

Once Taki opened her eyes, she eyed the covers before taking them in her hands and laying them over the other girl's body up passed her shoulders. She pulled back as Sophitia seemed to roll back onto her back while raising an arm to lay it just above her head so that it looked like her nose was lying on her upper arm. Taki merely blinked at her before sighing and running a hand over her face at all she had to do in one night.

Her eyes soon wandered aimlessly over to Sophitia's nightstand where three picture frames stood. She squinted as she tried to get a better look in the dim light and ended up sitting on the edge of the bed next to the nightstand, believing that Sophitia wouldn't wake since the depression Taki's weight caused on the bed wasn't very close to Sophitia's still form. Two frames stood up while the other behind it had been flipped face-down.

Taki looked at the first one, taking it into her hand and bringing it closer to her face; it was obvious that it was a family photo as both Sophitia and Cassandra were in it along with a boy who looked younger than the both of them but had the same eyes, giving off the fact that he was their brother. Taki easily guessed that the two adults in the picture were their parents; the father had an identical hair color to his daughters while the mother's light brown hair matched the boy's. She felt a little guilty that she had forgotten his name, taking a lucky guess that it started with an "L". The three siblings were sitting on a bench in a park with Sophitia on one side, the brother on the other and Cassandra in the middle. Her two parents stood behind them with their hands either on their children's shoulders or the bench. They both looked quite respectable to Taki's eyes; the mother had a warm and sweet smile and patient green eyes while the father definitely revealed his paternal, man-of-the-house image to the camera as his eyes held what Taki considered a 'determined businessman' look. She was happy that he smiled because that at least shows that he has consideration.

Moving to the second photo, she nearly laughed at the image as what looked like much younger versions of Sophitia and Cassandra were having some kind of playful fight which involved bags and handfuls of flour. Taki couldn't read any of the words that could be seen in the picture they were all in Greek, but she could tell that it was inside a kitchen since both girls were wearing aprons. The walls, floor, cupboards, drawers and two girls had spots and blotches of flour all over them. She guessed that the laughing, shorter-haired and flour-spotted Sophitia looked young enough to be just entering her teenage years. Her eyes softened at the image of their strong, sisterly relationship. She wished Sakura and herself were as close and open as the two Greeks; whenever Taki would merely wrap an arm around her little sister's shoulder, Sakura would tense up and look at her strangely before brushing her older sister's hand off and note that Taki was "weirding" her out.

Finally, she gazed at the flipped frame for a moment with curiosity, wondering why it was flipped over in the first place anyway. She took it in her hand and brought it closer to her face to see it better. Her eyes soon softened and her smile faded as what looked like a sixteen to seventeen-year-old Sophitia had her arms wrapped around a slightly taller and possibly older man's neck who stood behind her and had his arms wrapped around her waist and stomach with the side of his head resting against hers. "Rothion…" No sound came through her throat as she simply mouthed her unquestionable realization. His handsomely combed, vibrantly red-brown hair stood out greatly against Sophitia's golden shade. His eyes were deep hazelnut and even softer than Mitsurugi's portrayed; he was indeed handsome and definitely seemed to have a bit of noticeable charisma. The couple looked into the camera with soft eyes and smiles; Taki could tell that they were at the part of their relationship where unconditional love could be felt between them. Even the incredibly soft, dreamy look in Sophitia's eyes took her aback, never had she seen anything close to what her eyes portrayed when Taki was around her.

Flashes of ideas of what the two may have done and shared while they were together came into her mind: The two walking back home after school, hand in hand with their thumbs caressing the other's hand while tentatively glancing in each other's direction. Or having a picnic in the tall grass of a hill with Sophitia's back pressed to Rothion's chest as his arms wrapped snuggly around her while whispering sweet nothings into her ear and letting his nose softly run along its edge, all of which making her eyes close and giggle giddily and lean against him. And then leaning against a tree the night of a holiday celebration, and while the fireworks go off, Rothion takes Sophitia's chin in her fingers, looking deeply into her eyes as she does the same until he gently kisses her cheek before making a slow trail down her face, ending at her lips but making it last much longer and hold mild passion.

'Okay, that's enough.' Taki abruptly thought before blinking a few times and shaking her head once to brush away any other thoughts, knowing full well that she had seen more than plenty. She set the frame back down, making sure to have it be flipped down like it was before.

Her eyes landed on an opened envelope behind where the frame was. Remembering the way Sophitia looked when she returned to this room earlier that day, she took the envelope in her hand with curiosity, only to have her shoulders drop as it was all in Greek and couldn't read it at all. She sighed as she laid the letter back down in its spot, frustrated that she couldn't get a word out of a simple one-paged letter.

She moved her mahogany gaze to the sleeping Grecian and kept it on her for a long thoughtful moment, noting her features as the moonlight came down onto a side of her vanilla-skinned face through a nearby window. "You are really pretty though." She spoke in a low, commenting voice as if she was making a side note for herself as well as to the younger girl who didn't stir. "I actually feel a little bad for him to have to let you go like you said he did." She looked up slightly as she paused. "All is fair in love and war I guess." She chuckled softly as she ran a hand through her hair. "Your love for Rothion and _our_ war." Smiling, she took one last long look at Sophitia's content expression before turning to head back to her room and fall into bed which was surely being occupied by the cat.

8

As the door shut behind her, emerald eyes finally opened from their false slumber and gazed at the door softly. 'T…Taki…?' Sophitia lifted herself upright and felt a blush form on her cheeks; Taki, the masculine, tomboyish, sports fanatic that was easily annoyed by the younger girl's own academic perseverance had stated aloud that she was pretty? And even added a "really" in it! Had she not been pretending to be asleep at the time, her jaw would've dropped open in surprise and disbelief. 'I'm sure she didn't mean it any way close to being an intimate confession or declaration but it still caught me off guard.' Raising a hand to her cheeks, she tried to make the burn of her fluster fade only to find it do so but very slowly.

Her eyes dropped to the flipped frame. 'Gods, she took such a long look at that picture it almost made me nervous! The only reason that it's flipped over at all is because, well… even though I still love the guy (not in the intimate way I used to of course, more of a strong friendship feeling than _real_ love), after knowing how much he wanted me to stay in Greece with him and not do what I love most and go abroad to learn new things, looking at his photo, or then again _our_ photo, it… well, it tends to 'get' to me and not in a positive way, it's even irritating to look at from time to time. But I can't deny that I do admire it at times, especially those lonely times as well.' She blinked quizzically a few times as she continued to stare at it.

'I wonder what Taki was thinking when she saw it… the longer she looked at it, the more embarrassed and nervous I became. The tension of waiting for her to put it down became so great for me that I had to pop and eye open to see what she was doing. But she seemed to just… think… then suddenly shake her head for some reason.'

The letter that she received was the next thing that her eyes focused on. She paused then sighed slightly. 'Rothion… I enjoy seeing you and hearing how you are and I do enjoy your company, but…' Feeling slightly guilty for saying this, she paused once again. 'But I don't know if your decision to visit again is wise, even if your scheduled arrival is a little less than two weeks from now.' Her head dropped back as she felt a twinge of stress coming on. 'Perhaps I should let it go, maybe things will be alright with both Rothion _and_ Taki here.'

She sighed as she fell back onto her bed, closed her eyes and curled up with the sheets of her bed being clutched close to her. She smirked as she recalled the feeling of Taki holding her in her arms; she could even feel the amount of tension the Asian woman was feeling as her shifty movements and grumbled words easily expressed it. It was all play for Sophitia since Taki's presence had awakened her; she wanted to see how far her roommate would go to help another. Indeed, the powerful warmth of her body and the gentleness she exercised did make her blush (not to mention the placement of her hands), but in the end she actually learned more about the older woman that made her gain more respect for her, and that made her smile.

'_Our_ war…' Sophitia giggled within her throat at Taki's implication of how much they argue. 'How true.' She pulled the covers closer, oblivious to the fact that her smile took a very long while to fade.

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Well, yep, trying to think up some more idea's, I'll try to fit some actual writing is as I have a lot of make-up homework to complete for the week. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, at first I thought that it wasn't going to be any good, but now I think that it went alright overall. There wasn't a whole lot to do with the motorcycle scene, but I'm planning (hoping) to fit another in. I can't have Sophitia like it in this chap. because it would've been way too fast.

Just to let you know, there's no such thing as a Departure of Blossoms festival in NYC, although I think there should be one as I think it would be a good one. I had to make up one because there wasn't an Asian festival during November in NYC. But the others that Taki mentioned when Mina said that there wasn't many Asian festivals are true, I looked them up ;)

(Whistles at the reviews for the last chapter) Thank you so much for them all, that's probably the most I've ever received in one chapter. Of course, that's obviously because of writing the chapters for my other fic twice in a row so more time was given to review.

To Witch-Hunter 51: I really loved your enthusiastic review and I'm really glad you enjoyed it as much as you expressed :) I hope you liked this chap since I know you told me to update soon and it has been a while. I'm happy to have finally finished this and with some humor spotted here and there. And yeah, thanks to an eager reviewer I put him in and I brought him in as his cousin, I'm glad you think the fic is good because of that little add-in since that's the reason I brought him in; to make the background Mina has a little deeper and better. Let me know of what you liked in _this_ ending as I thought it went over well but an outside opinion is always better ;) Thank you again for liking my work so much and even having me mentioned as a favorite writer in your profile (which I had found out a while ago, btw, and was flattered :))

To animereader1: About your teacher, yeah that does make me quirk an eyebrow, especially the fairy dust… must've been a hippie or something, lol. I actually collect cat figurines from time to time, Egyptian ones whenever they cross my eye, but Setsuna is supposed to be worse than me as I only have a single bookshelf of cats while she has a whole office. As I've said, I hope you liked this update considering how long it is and how long it took to actually write it.

To Cococashu: I always read your comments because, like the whole Maiev being a justice-server and not a demon hunter, I want to correct errors I may have made to make it better and more understandable for the reader :) And as for your comments; Whether Ember is checking Taki and/or anyone else off on her list is kind of the mystery of it, the reader is supposed to guess and they can either believe that the cat is actually doing it or they can think that it's just a coincidence and the cat is just being, well, a cat.

For what Taki and Sophitia said about each other as DragonMistress and SacredEmblem, I wouldn't want them to be angry so I made sure that each stuck in at least one positive note about their 'roommates' habits, so nothing too hurtful would be brought about if they did find out. I'm actually quite eager about them finding out their aliases myself as I'm not exactly sure how to go about it even though I have a few incomplete mental notes of how it should go about,

Taki's daydream, well, there isn't much to explain to interpret it, only that she got a feeling that surpassed flattery, SacredEmblem had been so honest and trusting towards her that it felt like SacredEmblem herself was willing to touch Taki's lips. So it just felt like a very real fantasy for Taki as she was wishing that it was really happening and is basically, slowly and almost unconsciously falling fo her chat buddy (when I say unconsciously, I mean that she herself hasn't even admitted or realized it). I'm glad you liked it btw and said how mine was different from other fics as I'm trying to gain a certain diversity from other fics (newer and more original), I wanted it to be a soft but intense moment that not only Taki but the reader could feel.

I think the two extra weeks I gave myself made this chap a whole lot better than I had originally planned it to be, the chapter wasn't as thorough and deep as this one is. So taking my time certainly is better, the only fear I have is that I can become quite lazy often and I have to push myself into writing something that I have no idea is about since I have the common ADD. But at least I did well in this one and I'm pretty proud of it ;)

:) Don't worry about the valedictorian thing, at a point before I had written the fact in the last chapter, I knew what it was but I almost way off in my pronunciation. It's basically who has and maintained the highest grades in his/her graduate class, they usually get an award for it by the time of their graduation.

I didn't really like Yunsung's character in the game much, I didn't think he was arrogant, I just thought he was a pushover and a show-off at times, but I liked his ending when he chose not to fight with Soul Edge and used his own skills instead. It shows that he's a real fighter and believes in himself and not in the words and rumors of others. And in this fic, yeah, I made him so that he'd be like an annoying little brother for Mina while others think that he's cute because of the way he acts to her friends.

Yeah, Mau's office with suggestive 'things' was really fun to write, especially when Mina and Yunsung came into the picture. And yeah, Mina is the perfect 'interuptor' at times I believe, a guy interrupting can be even better but there wouldn't be much for him to say as he would most likely have a nosebleed, lol. Finding something for Yunsung to say when he comes in was actually quite difficult so I put my self in his shoes and thought of what I'd say, of course my first one was "Holy Hell!" but I figured that would be too much for a boy his age so I went with my second idea. I have a few ideas for Mitsurugi, they may take a small while but it will be worth it, I believe.

Yeah, I had to put the Setsuna thing in otherwise I was afraid that people wouldn't get it so quickly so I'm glad I did.

The 'affections' thing with Haitani, It's meant to be dirty, and perverted since that is how Haitani thinks, I though 'affections' but in the right tone would be a perfect word for him ;)

My readers opinions meant a lot to me because if I feel like I did something wrong with the story or if the characters seem a little more 'off' than they should be, then I'll go back and change it. I believe heavily in the dignity of the character so I want to keep it more or less consistent. That's why I love reviews and my reviewers because the more I get, the more positively I think of my work and the more motivated I am to write more and invent better, creative scenes. Plus I love hearing what humorous or emotional scenes touched my readers because that'll give me an idea of what the readers want to see and I think up scenes that almost every reader would enjoy and keep reading.

So your long reviews don't bother me at all, you tell me what I'm strong at or what I need to work on as a writer and that means a great deal to me :) The longer the better, I hope you liked this update and don't hold back on compliments/comments in your review, I can't wait to read them ;)

To Weaselbeast: I hope this one was better for you and not as bland, I know that it may be a little slow in some parts and I'm trying to work on that. It took me a lot of time to do this so I hope the wait was more worth it.

To reika45: I'm glad you liked the last update and how I portrayed Prof. Mau with her peering through the window. This fic is all about character development as are the many other fics by other people but the development is more emphasized. There will be a great point in the fic where Taki will be able to tell more about her background and family as will Sophitia with hers so I'll make sure to fit that in for you ;) I love to make them criticize each other in their chats because they reveal their thoughts and feelings more to each other since their so close, it kind of makes the story deeper. I hope you liked the bits of humor in this fic as well as the feelings they express in this one :) Thank you for your review.

To El Loco: Ha ha, I'm glad you figured it out about Prof. Mau. They are the same characters yes, the only difference is that the Setsuna in this fic doesn't have the ability to change into her cat-self, that would be a little out of place. For you chronology of my fics, it's "When a Savior is Saved", "A New Era" then "My Way". "Meeting of the Dirty Minded" was kind of an extra and isn't part of the whole trilogy, I did it just for fun, although I've begun to loath it with a passion with it's weird and wacky ways so I kind of decided to redeem myself by doing this comedy. I do feel proud for making you think so hard since it's rare, although I'm sorry for making you do that as I remember the last time you thought hard and ended up getting a headache. I sure hope you liked this one, both comically and emotional-wise :) Can't wait for your next review.

To Lokiador: Ha, thanks for the congratulations on my exams and for going the extra mile to put it in another review. I think you should've like this one because of the bits and pieces of comedy in it as well as the emotion put into it and especially in the ending. At least I certainly hope you liked this one ;) Hope to see a review from you :)

To Rain54: Hope you liked this update, I thought it went well and I hope you thought so too. I'm glad you liked the chats so far and the interpretation of the cat with the possibility of her checking off 'suitors' for her owner. When the aliases are discovered, all I can say is that it should be very interesting ;) thank you for your review :)

To mentalretard: Short review for the last update but can't complain since it still means something to me ;) Few words can say a lot :) I hope you can say the same for this chapter that you said for the last with a few extra things (if you believe you need to say them ;))

To 2young2bequeen: Hope this chapter was worth the wait and that you still love the story so far ;)

To star shaper: I'm glad to know that the last chapter made you laugh and feel better :) It makes me proud to know that it had that effect on you, I hope this did the same (or at least nearly the same since the humors in small bits and pieces) :) and yep, I'm (obviously ;P) going to respond to my reviewers, I want them to know that I'm always listening and not disregarding or ignoring them :)

To fireinu: Hope you still like the interaction between them since there's a lot of it in this chapter. Thank you for your review :)

To Nightmare Alchemist: LOL, yeah there's a lot of irony in this fic and the kotatsu incident I had to put in since this was indeed a comedy fic and thought it would be perfect. I'm a Ken Akamatsu fan so 'Love Hina' is a great influence yes and goes along well with my story and character development :) I know it took me a long time to update and I'm sorry, although the extra two weeks that I gave myself to write this really helped as my original idea wasn't as full and good as this chapter is now. I'm glad you liked it and I hope this chapter made up for the wait :)


	7. What a Festival Can Do

Do not own SC characters.

I KNOW! I KNOW! I took an inexcusably amount of time in updating this and I GREATLY apologize. This chapter kind of caught me in the middle of my final month of school, so I had to hold it off for that month so that I could actually _pass_ this year. I'm really really really sorry for the delay.

In recompense for the lateness of this update, I tried to make this chapter good and long, and I don't believe I failed length-wise. I actually had more going on in this chapter but I had to cut it off until the next chapter because I was afraid that _this_ chapter was going to be _too_ long and take up _too_ much time. I figured it would be better to give you this instead of making you guys wait longer. I hope this chapter was worth the wait for you, let me know how it was to you, like always :) And again, I apologize… and again and again.

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Chapter 7: What a Festival Can Do

Mitsurugi casually walked through the halls with his backpack slacked over his arm. It was still the end of the school-day and people were still in classes, he was late for his own but he figured since he was late anyway, why hurry?

As he reached the end of the wide hall, he heard somebody speeding towards him from behind. When he turned to see who it was, a white-skinned yet hazy-black figure sped around him while grabbing his arm tightly then swung the both of them around to a deep corner behind the hallway. He felt the both of them hit the wall, making him grunt slightly as he looked down to the person who was now holding him close against them. His eyes widened as he finally realized that it was a tensing and panting Taki. Not saying anything, he felt the pressure of her chest expanding and contracting against his own as one of her arms wrapped around to his back while the other was wrapped rather snugly around his neck. Feeling himself become rather excited at this close contact, a smug grin forced its way onto his lips.

"Even in the middle of school, you just can't control yourself huh? I had a feeling our break-up wouldn't last long." Mitsurugi spoke in a low, soft tone as if trying to act sensual. Taki's palm suddenly lashed out and clamped over his mouth, making her feel his rather poorly shaved facial-hair poke at her palm.

"Shhh!" Taki hissed as soundlessly as she could, which didn't blow over very well. Mitsurugi was now thoroughly confused as he heard several pitter-patters of quick footsteps come towards them. Taki held him closer as this happened as if begging for his protection, which made Mitsurugi even more bewildered until a group of students ran to the end of the hallway. Mitsurugi easily guessed that they were looking for Taki to play a game of 'twenty-questions' with her about her upcoming match. He stayed close to Taki, who hid her face hidden in his baggy, blue-collared shirt, and waited until they left. They soon did, running down another hallway in hopes of catching up while completely missing the two in the corner who just appeared to be a couple and nothing else.

When they left, Taki softly pushed Mitsurugi away while sighing in relief and running her fingers through her hair. "Thanks, I hate it when the newspaper club comes after me. I mean, what could they possibly ask me about anyway when the soccer match hasn't even started yet?" She complained as she walked back down the opposite hallway where the club members had come after her. Mitsurugi didn't answer as he followed her lead, not having much else to do, well, besides actually _going _toclass.

"Of course, you _do_ know they're not going to leave you alone until they get what they want." Mitsurugi noted in a tone of soft warning.

Taki eyed him and his remark. "I pretty much know that by now, but thank you for your _helpful _advice." She replied sarcastically, which Mitsurugi rolled his eyes at, being quite used to those remarks. Taki rubbed her nape as if to help relieve the stress she was feeling. "Now I know how the President feels when mobs of reporters come after him. It's like having a Jack Russell Terrier gnawing, growling and ripping at your pant leg, never wanting to let go until you give it a biscuit!" She compared with an aggravated growl.

"So then how are you going to avoid them during the school-day?" Mitsurugi asked curiously.

Taki smiled faintly yet almost proudly as she glanced towards him. "I have nothing left for the rest of the day; my last class is a study hall, so after I get the professor's permission I'm just going to leave then. I'm going to have Sophitia help me with my homework anyway during tonight's study session."

Mitsurugi quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "Study session? Since _when_ did you have the perseverance to actually do 'study sessions'?"

"When I actually realized that I should." Mitsurugi noticed the pride in Taki's declaration, although he let his eyes narrow slightly at her as he knew that she would be hiding the real possible truth.

Taki's smile fell as she noticed his expression and sighed. "Alright; when she and my professor saw my grades, they both basically made me have tutors a couple of nights a week." She admitted in a low tone.

"So then, she helped you for the test today?" Mitsurugi questioned normally.

Taki seemed to sigh with slight agitation. "For four nights in a row. I'm pretty much shot by now with all that studying and that test today. At least it wasn't too difficult with her help. Of course I'm willing to wait for my grade. I'm just glad it's over for now."

"So are you going to that festival later tonight since you appear to be free? For the time being at least." Mitsurugi added with a quickly quirked eyebrow.

"No, I don't want to anyway. I've seen them every single year of my life and they haven't changed a bit. They can be rather boring after a few years." Taki asserted simply as if she was completely sure of her decision.

Mitsurugi looked at her for a moment before giving her a confused eye. "What about your father though? Isn't he the one who literally makes you go every year?"

Taki snorted as if brushing the statement away. "He may have done that for many years as well as to all of my other siblings, but I'm not living under his roof now so he doesn't have that power over me. _And_, he should know that I'm plenty old enough to think for myself. He doesn't know my schedule now anyway so he can't suddenly decide to have me do things like that. I'm actually going to tell him that today to prove that he doesn't have the upper hand." She proved as thoroughly as she could, having complete confidence in herself.

Mitsurugi blinked at her with a sort of calm concern, which he quickly brushed off as he looked away and tugged the strap of his backpack higher onto his shoulder. "Ookay, do what you want just don't involve me; your old man is a pretty tough guy for his age. I remember one time while we were still dating that he seemed to be suspicious of me for some reason; he kept giving me some sort of evil glare which _still_ makes me shudder today so I can't imagine what he looks like when he blows a fuse." The man with the longest ebony hair that Taki knew commented with a tone of slight warning.

Taki merely chuckled as if trying to appear fearless. "You _are_ a wuss to just be afraid of his glare." She commented with a smirk. "Don't worry, I know I can handle him; he's not _that_ difficult." Stating with a tone of complete confidence, she looked at him in the corner of her eye. "Maybe you should get back to class; teachers will get suspicious with you wandering around. This _is_ a city school after all." She warned coolly.

Mitsurugi rolled his eyes and sighed. "I suppose, but I won't like it." He turned the next corner to take another _long_-cut back to class. He waved once behind him. "Good luck with your father."

"Humph. You worry too much." Taki smirked as she continued down a different hallway. "I can take him."

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"No way! Absolutely NOT!"

Taki's eager shoulders and jaw dropped at her father's reply; she had gathered up enough courage to actually stand before him and lay down the line of her not going and yet he was _still _being irritable about it! Toki stood in the kitchen and she stood out of it in the family room staring at him over the counter table. Keiichi was in a cushioned chair in the same room with his game controller in hand while Sakura was laying back on the couch with her headphones on and eyes closed. However both their attentions turned to their father's rant, now very interested in the situation as Keiichi paused his game while looking in the corner of his eye and Sakura pulled a single earphone off to listen.

Taki huffed as she tried another round. "_What_ is the big deal? I've gone to it before as well as several others! Can I just not go this one time?" She tried to raise her voice but only a little since it _was _her father.

Sakura's eyes widened before she jumped off the couch and pointed at her elder sister almost accusingly. "Hey! No fair! I'm not a big fan of these festivals either and yet you're considering letting her go? Do you know how boring _and_ embarrassing it is to have your two brothers surrounding you and not having a sister as back-up?" The purple-streak-haired girl protested, folding her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes slightly.

Keiichi blinked at Sakura beneath the rectangle-lenses of his specs as if bewildered at Sakura's statement. He soon shot up from his seat to defend. "Hey! I'm not as bad as Haitani! I mean, you _know_ that between the two of us I'm the most considerate!" He abruptly pointed in the direction of where Haitani was at the time, which was in his room in the hallway. "I don't hope for strong winds to pick up in the summer for the only purpose of watching girls' skirts fly up!"

Suddenly Haitani came out of his closed room and poked his head into the living room, not realizing that all four within were tensing because of the issue. "I heard my name and the word 'skirts'." He stated with a quirked eyebrow as his gaze swept over all four, waiting for an explanation.

Taki sighed as she rubbed a hand down her face; this was more trouble than she needed. She looked back up to her father whose eyes were intense and had his arms folded over his chest. "Father, can't I skip it this time? I… I have a lot of st-!"

"Don't give me any excuses, Taki." Her father interrupted, his dark eyes never wavering from hers. "This is our own tradition and I would_ like _it if you'd not _break_ it. It may not be like the festivals in Japan, but it means a great deal for us to all go. Tsukoto still does it, I know since she writes to us almost every week. And besides, you'd let all your siblings down if you didn't come; Sakura has already expressed that." He spoke in a slightly cooler tone that before, which made Taki's muscles become less tense.

Taki quirked an eyebrow at him; she had the perfect solution of saying that she had to study but then he _had_ to say those things. Taki slowly turned to look at Sakura. 'She couldn't be _that_ desperate to have me there-whoa!' When her eyes landed on Sakura, she found that her little sister had snuck up just behind her, placed her hands together and portrayed a cute innocence in her big brown eyes as though she was a pleading puppy. Taki looked at her in a strange gawking expression as she pulled back slightly and lifting her arm up as if defending herself from Sakura's cuteness. Taki sighed as second thoughts came into her mind.

"If you really hate the festival so much, perhaps you could ask that roommate of yours to come along and keep you company." Toki suggested, making his gaze lose their intensity as he noted Taki's failing defenses against her sister.

Taki's wide eyes shot up to him but she couldn't find the words to speak for a few seconds, although it was obvious that she was _trying_ to speak since her jaw kept dropping up and down slightly. "F-father, I kind of doubt that Sophitia would come; she didn't seem very interested in it the last time the festival was mentioned." She tried to explain as she tried to renew her composure.

Toki seemed to smirk as he shifted while leaning back against the edge of the counter. "It wouldn't hurt to ask, now would it? You never know, she might like it more if she goes with someone who's more familiar with it." He explained simply, making Taki hesitate again before she tried to find another excuse until he broke in again. "You will have to find your kimono though; I don't know where you hid it after last year's festival." Taki's eyes portrayed extreme fear as they darted.

'Not the kimono. Anything but the kimono! There's no way Sophitia's going to see me in that kimono even if she _did _decide to come. I have to wear it every single year and I hate it every time! It just doesn't suit me, plus I can hardly move in it! Not to mention how long it takes to actually put it on!' Her thoughts raced through her mind at an almost incomprehensible speed. Having a masculine personality, wearing very feminine clothes was her least favorite thing to do.

"Uh-erm…" Eyes continuing to dart, she tried to come up with an excuse to not wear it. "I-I took it over to Sophitia's a-and I can't seem to find it." Her speech was rather rushed but she figured it would work; Toki was already looking down and running a hand over his bearded chin in contemplation.

"Can't find it? What do you mean you 'can't find it'? Didn't you leave it in your closet because you didn't want both Sophitia and yourself to see it-mmph!" Sakura spoke up with furrowed eyebrows of confusion until Taki whipped around and covered her mouth with her palm. Her little sister was a bit frightened at the crazed look in Taki's eyes as her face was so close to her own.

"And didn't I tell you to keep your mouth quiet about that?" Taki spoke in a forced whisper, her crazed eye quirking a dangerously high eyebrow at her. Sakura's eyes darted to the side as if thinking "Oh… yeah… oops…"

Toki chuckled slightly, making Taki abruptly turn to look at him. "Nice try, Taki." He smirked.

Taki could only smile in a pitiful nervousness. 'He must love doing this to me.'

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Sophitia glanced at her watch; she had been writing essay papers for her Economics class for the last hour and a half since school ended. From the kotatsu, she turned her eyes to her doorway, wondering what was taking Taki so long as she knew her sporty roommate rarely took the time to go to the library or anything of the sort. She quirked an eyebrow as she wondered if she should be so concerned over a girl older than herself and didn't get along with from time to time.

Just as she looked down, the door swung open as Taki seemed to drag herself in with a depressed expression. Sophitia didn't say anything as Taki dropped her bag on a tool by the kitchen counter while keeping a small, rectangular cardboard box under her arm. Her eyes furrowed in curiosity as Taki seemed to look at the box for a moment before shaking her head slightly and sighing as if releasing stress.

"Took you a while to come back." Sophitia suddenly noted, making Taki abruptly turn to her as if she hadn't noticed her until now.

Taki looked back down as she dropped the box back to her side. "Yeah, I had to stop at my family's place to tell my father that I didn't want to go to the festival. But, _once again_, he made me." The ebony-haired woman paused as she glanced at Sophitia who looked at her with what looked like slight indifference. 'I'm kind of afraid to ask her if she wants to go with us; what if she becomes bored quickly, not that I most likely won't either, but…' She contemplated as she looked away. 'Hmph.' Taki inwardly shrugged. 'I'll ask her and if she wants to go, she can and if she doesn't, she doesn't.' She figured as she turned completely to Sophitia, who had looked down for a moment but looked back up with slightly raised eyebrows as she heard Taki's sudden movement.

Taki took a breath. "W-would you want to go to that festival we spoke about in Mina's car?" She spoke rather quickly.

Sophitia blinked; she didn't have a real desire to go, although she wondered what made Taki bring this up. The reason that she didn't want to go was mainly because the last time she spoke to DragonMistress, her friend had said that she had had enough of festivals for her lifetime already and said that she wasn't willing to go. Sophitia just left it alone after that, plus she figured it would be pointless to search for a person who you didn't know the real name of or what they looked like.

"Um… why do you ask?" Sophitia asked as she dropped her pen onto the kotatsu table before steepling her fingers together. As Taki hesitated, she spoke up again. "Is it today already?" She asked in slight surprise.

The older woman nodded slightly. "My father thinks you might like it if you go with someone you knew." Taki stated in a low tone as if trying not to make Sophitia feel that she was limited in options.

Sophitia looked away as she pondered for a moment. "When would we be going?"

Taki pulled back in slight surprise that Sophitia was considering it. "Erm…" She quickly looked at her watch. "Eight, maybe." She answered uncertainly. "I remember there being shops, food and sweet stands as well as game booths; it's pretty much like a carnival." She added, although she felt like hitting herself for saying that it was like a carnival since festivals and carnivals were obviously the same thing except festivals had a little more meaning into it, at least in her opinion.

Sophitia quirked an eyebrow as if intrigued. "Cassandra would like it too then. I've heard she's been pretty bored lately." She thought aloud, not noticing Taki raise her eyebrows beneath her long, slightly parted bangs as she wasn't expecting for Sophitia say yes and even agreeing to bring her sister along. After a few minutes, Sophitia's gaze landed on Taki's. "I think I'll go; it sounds interesting." She smiled slightly as she agreed.

Taki felt a smile sneak onto her face in reply although it was without permission. She looked down as she quickly ran her fingers over her lips to make her smile sink back within herself. "All right. Perhaps our sisters should come over here then and we can all leave together since Sakura needs to come over here anyway." Taki thought aloud with a slight shrug as she left for her room to unbox the infernal Asian robes.

Sophitia's eyebrows furrowed in slight confusion. "Why would your sister need to come here?" She asked curiously before Taki could even enter the hallway.

Taki froze; she now knew that she would have to tell the Grecian about what she had to wear that night and she knew the reaction she might get. "I-uhh…" Taki gulped as she decided to get it over with. "Whenever we go to a festival of some sort all the females in our family have to wear kimonos to be respectful. It takes a second person to help put a kimono on properly so Sakura's coming over and helping me with mine then I help her with her own." Taki explained quickly and in a low tone, making sure to keep her eyes off of the blonde until she finished and tentatively turned to look at her in the corner of her eye.

Sophitia couldn't help the anxious smile that took over her lips. She leaned her chin into the palm of her hand. "You're going to be in a kimono huh? That's very feminine of you. I can't wait to see that." The younger girl declared teasingly, her smile turning into a wide grin as Taki's gaze seemed to drift on and off of her as if trying to find a place to lock her eyes onto as she spoke.

Taki chuckled cockily with a slightly twitching lip. "Oh I bet you can't." She pretended to grumble irritably as she headed for her doorway.

"By the way…" Sophitia called as Taki had her hand on her door handle, making her still herself as she listened. "Since you're wearing something respectful, I suppose that I would need to as well?"

Taki's eyes darted slightly; she had no idea, she never really paid attention to whether people of other nationalities dressed more nicely when they visited the Asian festivals. "Hmm, you _can _if you _want_." Was all Taki could answer then waited for Sophitia's reply, which took a small delay.

"I guess I'll keep that in mind." Sophitia seemed to chuckle slightly at Taki's dubious reply before her roommate entered her room with another cocky sound through her throat. Sophitia figured that she would eventually tell Sakura of the new plan of her coming over so she planned to do the same after she had finished her essay. Thusly, with a smirk, she continued to write the remainder of her essay…

88888

Sophitia decided to dress herself up respectfully for Taki's sake as she knew that the masculine girl would most likely feel tortured in feminine clothing. So she was in her room picking out her best, most comfortable as well as warm clothes against the chill of autumn. She was having a lot of difficulty in this until she found a dark blue skirt that went down above her knee-cap and a white, collared shirt with cuffs at the wrists.

She pulled it out of her closet as she examined it for wrinkles then laid it out on her bed before she went to collect the jewelry appropriate to it. When she had everything together, she figured to start getting dressed now just to have everything ready just in case she would eventually forget something else she would want to put on later.

Tossing off her light blue shirt, she put her other white shirt on and buttoned it up to her breastbone without any trouble. Next was the jewelry, which was mostly Onyx stones and silver. Then was the blue skirt which had the zipper at the side and hidden beneath flaps of the material. She went to put it on with the zipper at her right hip then looked at herself in the mirror on her dresser. Looking at herself in different directions, Sophitia didn't seem to care much for the skirt anymore since it looked a little out of place with the black of the Onyx and the white of the shirt. She had many more skirts to choose from so it didn't really bother her, so she went to pick out another skirt and eventually found a jean skirt the same length as the one she had on now.

Throwing it on the bed she went to take off the skirt she had on now, only to find that the zipper was caught on a loose string within the flaps. She growled in frustration as she tried to force the string to break by moving the zipper only to find it becoming more stuck. Of course the band around the waist was a little tight so she couldn't just push it around her hips. She took a breath as she paused, exhaling upwards so that her breath moved her bangs up slightly.

"Now what?" Sophitia thought aloud as she tried to think of a way to get her skirt off, and she need it done fast as she had called her sister to come an hour ago so she knew that both Sakura and Cassandra would be on their way to her apartment. She knew that Cassandra wouldn't be much help in helping her as she knew that her dear little sister would laugh at her.

Sophitia froze as she heard a knock on her door. "Hey Sophitia, it's six o'clock now so Sakura should be here anytime to help me with my kimono. Just thought I'd tell you so that you wouldn't be surprised when she comes." Taki spoke through the door. Sophitia stayed in her position as her eyes darted.

"A-alright, thanks." Sophitia answered before she closed her eyes and scowled at the idea that came into her head, knowing that she'd have no choice but to do it. "Taki could you come in here for a second?" 'This isn't going to be good.' The blonde thought as she kept her pinched fingers on the zipper. Her heart sped up at Taki came through slowly.

"Yeah?" Taki quirked an eyebrow at the position Sophitia was in. A smirk appeared on her face before she continued, "having troubles?"

"Just a little, yes." Sophitia had a cocky look on her face as she answered, watching as Taki brought her whole body into the room before shutting the door behind her. "My zipper's stuck." She explained in a low, embarrassed tone as she averted her gaze away from Taki's amused ones.

"I can see that." A grin could be seen on Taki's face. "I'm even more surprised though at the fact that you decided to dress up." The slightly taller girl mentioned as she placed her hands on her hips and shifted her weight to one leg.

"I bet." Sophitia quirked an eyebrow slightly as she responded, still feeling very aggravated. "Before our sisters come, could you help me get this off?"

Taki blinked tentatively, raising her eyebrows as if her surprise had heightened by that request. "Uhh, sure." She came forward, kneeled down and moved Sophitia's fingers so that she could clearly see what she had to do, only to blink again in confusion as the zipper was apparently part of a complex knot of loose strings. "Geez, what'd you do to it?" Not looking up as she spoke, she pulled lightly at the strings as if she thought they would just easily fall right off.

"I didn't do anything." Sophitia defended sternly.

"Yeah, _that's_ evident." Taki replied cockily, making Sophitia half-sneer briefly as she looked away while feeling Taki continue to fiddle with the knotted strings. "What exactly do you suggest I do?"

Sophitia sighed slightly. "I don't know, get a pair of scissors and cut through the strings. I have a pair in a drawer in the kitchen." She instructed, watching Taki simply nod before she headed to the door. However, the door of her apartment could be heard opening from its loud squeak and soon Cassandra's voice could be heard yelling "hello". Hearing this, Sophitia abruptly grabbed Taki's shoulder and pulled her back, making her fumble backwards in the process.

"Problem?" Taki asked with a very quirked eyebrow at Sophitia's action.

"Don't you think it'll seem weird that you're leaving my room, waving at them indifferently, and then coming back to my room with a pair of scissors in your hand?" Sophitia explained with an eyebrow that matched Taki's.

The slightly taller woman's eyes darted as she heard this, realizing the awkwardness of that image. Her eyes slowly drifted up to Sophitia's before she blinked twice. "Then what do you want me to do?"

Sophitia sighed again, her eyes tightly shut and running her fingers through her golden bangs as she tried to think of something. Then, she heard Cassandra's voice calling for her again with confusion. "Just a second, Cass!" Sophitia called before she turned to Taki, knowing that she had to hurry. "Just… Just rip it off if you have to, I'm going to through them out anyway since they're obviously 'defective' now." She explained as calmly as she could.

Taki's eyes widened at what she was told. 'Ri-rip it off?' Her eyes drifted down to Sophitia's skirt as she kneeled down and took an edge of the zipper in her fingers. 'I can't believe I'm doing this.' She thought as she began to pull at the material in opposite directions, waiting for at least a small tear. 'It's certainly a new experience.' A smirk soon broke onto her face as she continued to pull.

Sophitia tried to stay as still as she could, although it was difficult as Taki's attempts of tearing her skirt made her hips move against her skirt. It was the most embarrassing situation she ever thought she'd be in. She soon noticed the amused look on Taki's face and felt her eyebrows furrow slightly. "What are you grinning about?"

Taki soon found herself giggling madly; a thing she rarely felt herself doing. "You know, never in my lifetime did I imagine myself having to rip a girl's skirt off, _especially_ when it's by request." She found herself laughing a little harder as she spoke, although she tried to keep her voice level to a minimum.

Sophitia felt a smile creep on her face on its own accord. "I'd never thought I'd _ask_ someone to rip my skirt off." She chuckled slightly, hearing Taki do the same.

It took a few minutes for Taki to even get a small tear, which wasn't enough for her to take her skirt off; the material was very strong for its light appearance. She sighed loudly at the amount of time this was taking; she knew that her sister would wonder what she's doing. "What are you doing? Just rip it off! Did you lose your muscle in the last few minutes?" She asked rather impatiently, while shortening Taki's in process.

Taki sharply looked up with furrowed eyebrows. "I _am_ ripping it off!" She shot back loudly, making her grip and strength rise as she gave another hard tug. Sure enough, the skirt finally ripped and almost all the way down the hem, revealing a smooth vanilla-skinned thigh to the Asian's eyes.

Taki could feel an uncontrollable blush come to her cheeks; between the sight of her slender thigh and the somewhat thin white band of her underwear encircling her hip, Taki found herself having difficulty trying to move. It completely left her mind that she was going to see a glimpse of Sophitia's underwear and thigh if she was trying to rip her skirt off, although this was much more than a 'glimpse'.

Sophitia froze as well, her eyes darted as she slowly looked down to the very wide-eyed Taki. Both were at a loss of words for the eternity that seemed to pass as the moment occurred. Although, no words were needed as they were spoken by Cassandra as she rushed into her sister's room.

"What in the world are you yelling abou-!...?" Cassandra stopped as her wide eyes matched both Taki's and her elder sister's while they sharply looked back at her. Cassandra merely blinked twice at them as if still trying to comprehend what was in front of her. Sophitia and Taki were silent although their mouths were slacking slightly. Cassandra seemed to drop her head then sigh as she shook it. Sophitia heard a soft giggle from the short-haired blonde, making her eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion. Cassandra slowly looked up with a grin. "First under the table and now in your bedroom? Man, you two never stop do you?"

Much to Taki and Sophitia's shock, Sakura came in with curiosity before they could defend. "Never stop what?" She asked Cassandra in her confusion until she saw her own sister kneeling next to her roommate's more than half-exposed leg. Her eyes widened, as could be predicted by now.

Sakura was about to open her mouth, when Taki hastily got to her feet and shoved her sister out the door by the shoulders. "Nothing! Nothing! Nothing's happening! So, why don't we just start fitting on our kimonos just to have that over-with!" She defended then offered rather loudly as if she thought it would quickly avert her sister's thoughts, whatever they may be.

Cassandra watched them go passed her with a smirk on her face which she couldn't get rid of. She slowly turned to Sophitia, who was averting her gaze from her while ruffling the back of her hair slightly. When she finally looked up to her sister's cocky smile, she frowned slightly as she quickly took her torn skirt and tossed it in the waste basket.

"You know very well that nothing was happening, so don't give me that look." Sophitia gave her the 'no-no' gesture while glaring at her knowingly as she spoke.

Cassandra grinned widely while holding her hands behind her back: a true 'baby-sister' pose. "Yep, I'm beginning to know you two well."

'That's a dangerous thought.' While turning back to her closet to find a better skirt to wear, Sophitia half-muttered as those words ran through her head.

888

The two Grecian sisters sat on the couch of the living room, waiting for the other two in Taki's room to be finished. In between them laid Ember, purring and rubbing against Sophitia's idle stokes of her fingers against its side. Cassandra just flipped through the channels, an expression of complete boredom on her face as she leaned the side of it against her palm onto the arm of the couch.

Almost an hour had passed and they were beginning to wonder what was taking the two Asian sisters so long. Neither complained, although they would make frequent glances at the digital clock close to them as they waited. After another fifteen minutes had passed, Cassandra was now ready to complain until the door of the hallway could be heard opening, along with faint murmurs. Sophitia and Cassandra could tell that the two were arguing over something although neither knew what, well, besides Sakura discovering her own sister taking another woman's skirt off.

Sakura was the first to come out, wearing a very dark green kimono with designs of trees containing large emerald leaves and a dark turquoise obi sash. Apparently, she was trying to motivate Taki to emerge from the hallway since she kept looking into the hallway and waving for her sister to come out. Eventually, she simply dropped her gesturing arms to her side and went back into the hallway.

Sophitia and Cassandra looked at each other strangely before standing and waiting for the two to finally come out. Sophitia sighed as Taki was still reluctant to come out. "Come on Taki; it can't be that ba-!" She stopped as Sakura used almost all her weight to push her out of the hallway. Taki leaned against her but once she was 'revealed', her attempts of going back stopped and she felt a blush come to her cheeks; she felt utterly ridiculous in her kimono but Sophitia greatly thought otherwise as she found herself staring at her.

Taki wore a vibrantly deep red kimono with thin branches full of white blossoms surrounded her in a very whimsical fashion while the sash was red and black: perfect colors for the blossoms to stand out. Red was a nice color for Taki, Sophitia figured; it brought out her chocolate eyes as did her ebony hair which was finally let down to frame her face and go almost passed the shoulder blade.

Observing Taki's outfit, Sophitia was grateful that she decided to dress up rather than not because if she hadn't then she would have quickly changed into something better than casual clothing; she would have felt a little out of place standing next to Taki in casual wear.

Taki averted her eyes from Sophitia's still ones on her, making the blonde quickly do the same. "I know; I don't look very good in feminine clothing." Taki muttered rather sheepishly as she rubbed her nape.

Sophitia looked up at her in slight surprise at her assertion before she went to get her car keys on the counter by Taki. "I don't think so." She defended softly, watching as Taki's eyes meekly met hers again from the corner of her eye. "You don't look bad at all in a kimono, and you look even better with your hair down. Perhaps you could let it down more often." Sophitia kept her eyes on the slightly taller girl's. Taki only blinked in response as she looked down, not finding the right words to say "thanks." Sophitia's eyes softened on the side of her face. "You look… really pretty." She grinned slightly yet cutely as returned the compliment Taki gave her the other night.

The blonde almost laughed as she noticed Taki turn pink on the cheeks at her compliment; she was still oblivious to the fact that Sophitia had been awake that night, so she merely thought of it as a coincidence.

Cassandra could be heard letting out a huff behind her elder sister before she grabbed her arm and led her to the door. "Gods; never in my wildest dreams would I see my reserved sister flirt!" She commented loud enough for only Sophitia to hear. The short-haired looked up to her for the only purpose of seeing her sister's expression of taken aback surprise.

Sophitia's eyes narrowed before she looked away and tried to whisper, "I was not!"

"You were too! You should've seen yourself! If mother and father had seen that, they'd turn as pink in the face as you did when you first laid eyes on Taki a few minutes ago!" With a wide grin, Cassandra accused as she pushed the elevator button.

Before she could protest, Sophitia hastily looked back to make sure that Taki didn't hear that, soon thankful that she hadn't and was talking to her own sister. The taller Grecian looked back with stern eyes as she felt like smacking her younger sister over the head. Instead she nudged the short-haired girl with her shoulder. "Oh just drop it!" She scowled again as she noticed Cassandra only grin wider as they held the elevator open for the other two close behind

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Getting to the festival, both Grecians marveled at the surrounding lights of the lanterns hanging from the long cables above them. The darkness from the night seemed to come much more quickly than expected, although the time that passes from putting on kimonos may do that to a person. The festival area was composed of one main street leading to a small park along with three smaller streets branching out from the main one. The smaller streets were a little less embellished than the main street, but it contained the same types of lanterns, food stands and game booths. Asians were not the only ones to attend the festival, as it was proven by the many other Americans etc. who passed by them.

"You two look like you've never seen lights on cords before." Sakura spoke up from behind them as she referred to the lanterns above them. Taki stood next to her with her arms folded over her stomach with a look of slight indifference.

"Not this many." Sophitia responded while Cassandra nodded in agreement as she looked up towards the dozens of lanterns.

Sakura looked up at the lanterns as she let out a breath. Her gaze soon drifted over the crowds of people in the streets; there seemed to be an overwhelming amount participating in the festivities this year. Many of which wore kimonos as well and some were more embellished and vibrant than others, at least to her opinion. "Well," She turned to Taki with slightly raised eyebrows, looking as though she was about to propose something. "I don't see father and our dear brothers anywhere; I can't seem to find any spiky-haired people around here to be Haitani. So do you want to just walk around until we find them or what?"

Taki shook her head. "It doesn't matter to me; you can do what you want."

Sakura took a brief moment to think. "Okay, I can show Cassandra the games and you can show Sophitia, um, _around_. Work for you?" Taki only accomplished opening her mouth before Sakura grabbed Cassandra's wrist excitedly. "'kay great! See you two later!" Soon Cassandra and Sakura were lost within the crowds while Sophitia and Taki just stayed motionless, not exactly knowing what to do.

Taki rubbed her nape before she tried to speak. "Um… like my dear sister said, would you mind just walking around?" She asked uncertainly as she tentatively raised her gaze to Sophitia's.

Sophitia smiled faintly as she waved her hand forward. "Lead the way." Her smile widened rather charmingly. Taki just blinked at her as if still trying to comprehend her smile before nodding once and stepping ahead of her.

8

Cassandra rubbed her freed wrist gently as Sakura and herself finally stopped in front of a small sweets stand. She noticed that the middle of the street wasn't as crowded as the entrances so there was a tolerable amount of people surrounding them.

Cassandra's light green eyes landed on the side of Sakura's face curiously. "Did Taki explain to you the whole situation that happened in my sister's room?"

"Yep." Sakura nodded slightly as she reached over the wooden counter to grab a container full of dough-like balls covered with what looked like liquid brown sugar. Strangely (to Cassandra at least), the slightly older girl didn't seem as bothered by the incident as it appeared to be the first time she laid eyes on it. Sakura seemed to chuckle in amusement. "Of course, I made sure to ask Taki if she actually _asked _for Sophitia's permission in taking her skirt off. I was just trying to be funny but my sister looked as though she was about to throw me out the window." Her chuckle became more audible as she spoke before taking one of the sweets she bought into her mouth with a toothpick.

She offered one of the sticky balls to Cassandra, who had another powerful feeling of curiosity before taking a second toothpick and trying one. It was somewhat doughy, but it wasn't exactly what she guessed as the inside contained a thick, delectable substance in it but it was deliciously sweet. "Well, I hope our sisters actually enjoy this festival; they don't seem like the people who're willing to go out in a heartbeat." She short-haired blonde stated thoughtfully as she continued to chew the sticky ball in her mouth.

Sakura nodded in agreement. "I have an idea they will; my sister goes out in a heartbeat only when she has an energy rush and wants to let it out on her motorcycle." She noted as she took another ball for herself. "Besides, since my sister and I almost always become bored during and after festivals, we make sure to lighten the night by watching a movie or marathon or something. That's why I decided to stay the night with Taki and your sister tonight since it's become like a tradition now."

Cassandra blinked as her eyebrows rose; perhaps she should do the same since it would be more fun. "Really? What movie did you bring with you?" She asked before actually telling her friend her proposition.

Sakura shrugged as if she thought the movie was nothing to be excited about. "We usually like to watch either horror/suspense or fantasy/action movies together, so this time I decided to bring "The Grudge" and "The Ring". I figured we'd decide which later." She explained while drifting her eyes over each stand to see which game stand would be the most worth-while to go to.

Cassandra only quirked an eyebrow at the choices; she'd heard about them but never saw them. She could take suspense/horror, at least to a certain extent depending on the goriness, so she decided to take a try in watching either.

Sophitia, however, was a bit of a different story and she knew that ever since she was younger; she couldn't stand horror/suspense. Ever since the time she saw the Greek version of Jurassic Park when she was much younger, Sophitia ended up not being able to sleep for almost a week. Cassandra merely shrugged at the thought. 'Eh she's a big girl; she can take it, or she can just not watch at all.' She figured before Sakura suggested a nearby game stand to try out.

Cassandra turned to look at the game booth somewhat curiously; it appeared to be a dart game where the dart had to puncture a certain balloon color. Just when her eyebrows lifted in reaction to the appeal the challenge of the game seemed to serve, her eyebrows soon furrowed as gamers next to them seemed to make a noisy racket.

"Wow Mina, you're aim is soo bad, it's surprising!"

Cassandra looked to a game stand next to her as she heard a boy shout almost cockily.

"Oh shut up! You weren't exactly saying those words in the first round!" An older woman shouted back and Cassandra soon recognized the voices as well as the identical red-brown hair the two had.

Sakura turned to her curiously as she noticed the expression on the blonde's face. "You know them?" She pointed her thumb at the two who were sitting on stools and holding small metal water guns.

Cassandra nodded with a sigh as if regretting that fact. She rather reluctantly walked up behind the sepia-haired girl and tapped on her shoulder (making sure to do so _lightly_ so to not set Mina off in the frustration she was already in).

Mina quickly took a glance behind her as to not take her focus off of the game. "Oh hi Cass. Interesting to see you here since this is my first time coming." She commented mildly before aggressively pulling on the gun's trigger, trying to get a higher score than the boy next to her.

"It's my first time as well." Cassandra paused. "Are you two at least _trying_ to act respectable to each other?" She asked somewhat curiously.

Mina didn't look back at her as she answered simply, "Yep, trying and failing."

"I see." Cassandra had a knowing look in her eyes before she turned to Sakura behind her. "Want me to introduce you? Or would you rather wait until they are… miles away from each other?"

Sakura stared at the two for a moment in contemplation. "I think I'll wait."

"Safe choice." Cassandra commented before she heard another aggravated growl from Mina.

"Man Mina, are you daydreaming of your boyfriend Hwang or something?" Yunsung asked as kept firing his water gun away with near-perfect accuracy.

Mina grit her teeth before she spoke through them. "Shut-_up_! Hwang isn't my boyfriend; he's only a friend of the family!" She kept her now-twitching eyes focused on each target she noticed.

Yunsung grinned impishly. "Uh-huh, that's why you have all those love letters from him under your mattress."

Mina's eyes sharply switched to his confident face, staring at him so intensely that you'd think she thought she had laser vision which she so badly wanted to test out on her cousin. "You little… Those aren't love letters! They're just mail he sends me, telling me about how his days of military training are going!"

Yunsung let out a cocky laugh in disbelief. "I don't know, they didn't look that way for me. Some pretty disgusting stuff in those pages; I'm surprised that the words "in the back seat of a car" hadn't shown up while I was taking a good gander at them!"

Okay, Cassandra now knew that the best thing to do in this situation is to sprint for the hills and dare not look back (although, it was quite difficult to find hills in New York City), and this was proved true at the provoked look of utter shock on Mina's face.

The Korean girl wondered three things: 'How in the universe did that little snot-nosed snoop get his grubby little hands on those letters? How dare he actually say that to me? And where exactly did he learn such language?'

While she was gawking at him, she completely forgot about the game. That is, until he turned to her with a look of triumph on his face. "You lost." He informed mildly, still grinning widely.

That caused Mina to go over the edge; she stood up from her stool and, with three fierce tugs, she ripped her metal water gun right off of the counter which it was _nailed _into. All three, including the booth keeper, sputtered at the sudden violent act. Mina huffed, her eyes taking on an insane look as she looked down at the wide-eyed boy.

"Uh-um… I was just kidding…" Yunsung muttered as he started to slowly back away from the girl pointing the gun at her, which was still attached to the water filter by a large tube going into the counter. He knew two thing was certain about Mina; she can be _way_ too over-reactive, and by the way she was holding that two-handed gun, she had watched the movie Scarface one too many times.

"You're going down, little boy!" Mina shouted in rage before she started firing the gun rapidly, finding, much to her pleasure, that the toy weapon held a lot of pressure in it since it went such a far distance and release so much water with each pull of the trigger. Mina soon gained a lot of eyes from onlookers, but she didn't care, although Cassandra and Sakura did as they stood stiff.

"Mina's father may not like this." Cassandra muttered to herself before she turned to Sakura. "We'd better leave before the security starts grabbing people."

Sakura eagerly nodded at her recommendation while her eyes remained glued to Mina and her hostile behavior. Cassandra took the other girl's wrist in her hand and nonchalantly lead the way around Mina and the boy who was ducking and covering his head from Mina's shots, since he was blocked from running by the many people passing by them.

Cassandra soon sighed in relief, followed by Sakura, once they had completely left the embarrassing scene. "Odd pair." Sakura remarked simply.

Cassandra shrugged. "Yeah, well, what can I say? They're my sister's friends." The blonde's light green eyes swept around their surroundings, nearly at a loss for what to do next.

Before Cassandra could even open her mouth to speak, an aggravated growl could be heard from a man who stood in front of a game booth not too far from them. "Come ON! These rules aren't fair! Can't I at least keep all my points if I pay for another round?" The man shouted rather loudly at the vender.

The two followed their curious urge and came up to the game booth that seemed a little larger than most of the others in the festival. A giant --like 'would take two people to handle it' giant—dartboard with several holes that were two inches in diameter and went all the way through hung on a large wooden backboard. Several darts could be seen all over the dartboard, however a single one could be seen poking out of a hole.

"Sorry, but rules are rules, so you lose all of your points." A strange, _very_ strange man answered; he wore what looked like a joker-samurai outfit complete with the feudal-style samurai helmet. Cassandra noticed that he also wore the most hideous mask she'd ever seen. To her, it looked like the demented version of a Roman-style theater mask with a Japanese twist; the long golden horns and fangs, the sad eyes with the wide grin as the features of the mask were the top on Cassandra's 'weird' list. His voice had a very condescending tone to it as well, at least it seemed that way in his answer to the man who soon threw his hands up in exasperation while muttering "Screw this" as he left, cursing the vender.

"Better luck next time!" The vender yelled in a rather happy tone, ignoring his customer's cursing as he pulled out the rest of the darts from the dartboard with his left hand. "Are you two here to take a gamble on this game?" He asked eagerly, his voice already starting to irritate the short-haired blonde.

Cassandra quirked an eyebrow as she leaned against the counter. "Why else?"

The vender looked at her for a moment, his expression hidden beneath his mask until he replied with a simple "Heh." He gathered the rest of the darts before laying them out in front of the two. "Very few have been given the chance of having enough points to claim the best of my prizes, so I wasn't certain whether two girls like you would be willing to… _sacrifice_ so much." He exclaimed simply as Cassandra and Sakura eyed the darts.

"Uh-huh." Cassandra answered as if she wasn't listening to him. "How much is it and for how many darts?"

The strange man merely chuckled at the statement he found comical. "Five dollars." As both girls pulled back in surprise, believing that the game was already a rip-off, the vender began to explain: "The idea of the game is like all the other's; the more points you get, the better rewards you receive, and as you can see, my prizes most likely beat the prizes of the many other game booths." He stated as he gestured towards all of the great Japanese prizes he contained with his right hand. Cassandra jerked back slightly as she noticed that his hand, and possibly his arm, was wooden. She found herself beginning to wonder if this guy was even human! "You can use as many darts as you like and then some." He continued. "However, if your dart goes out of bounds or goes through one of those holes, you lose the game, your score, and your money. My game can be very addictive for many." He stated as he casually leaned against the backboard. "Still willing to make a gamble?"

Cassandra turned to Sakura with raised eyebrows. Sakura shrugged as she brought out a five dollar bill. "Why not?" Both Cassandra and the vender grinned in response.

88

"Are you okay?" Sophitia asked in confusion as Taki's face seemed to whip to a certain direction again.

The taller girl sighed as her face drifted to look forward again "Yeah. I just didn't expect so many of my classmates here, that's all." Her chocolate eyes scanned the streets for any more familiar faces, as she had done several times in the last half-hour.

Sophitia's confusion only heightened as she heard this. "Why are you avoiding them?"

Taki glanced at her. "I'm sure same as you during the school day: I just don't want to talk to them. A lot seem to admire me for how well I do in sports." She explained as she rubbed her nape.

The Grecian pulled back at Taki's guess of why she avoids her own classmates. She was about to speak in her own defense but soon found that it was true. Switching back to Taki's explanation, Sophitia asked, "What do you expect them to do? Stalk you and take down notes of what you do after school?"

Taki chuckled half-heartedly. "Well, I _have_ had stalkers from the newspaper club after my wins. But I've never had anyone follow me after school." Quirking an eyebrow at the thought, She was thankful that they hadn't done that to her after school yet.

Sophitia held her hands behind her back as she straightened it. "I hardly think they'll recognize you with your hair down since you seem to have it in that ponytail everyday. Having it that way will cover the sides of your face too, so they won't be able to really notice you with the change." Assuring Taki, Sophitia glanced towards her and noticed that she had taken some weight off of Taki's shoulders by saying that since her attempts of being discreet were lighting up.

"Yeah, I suppose that's true." Taki responded softly and simply.

Sophitia smirked slightly as a though hit her. "Speaking of change, are you wearing make-up? Or maybe more than usual?" She mentioned as simply as she could as if making a simple note even though she was very curious.

The slightly taller girl seemed to slouch in self-pity as she walked. "Sakura did it for me; she said that she wanted to try something new with me since I don't normally do that. Is it bad? She pulled me out of my room even before letting me look at myself, so if she made me look like some kind of clown-!"

Sophitia interrupted quickly as she noticed the sneer form on Taki's face. "No! It doesn't look bad at all; she did a nice job of bringing out your facial features." 'Especially her skin color.' She added in her head as Taki's eyes were locked on her own. 'And cheekbones, and eyes, and lips, and…!' The blonde abruptly stopped herself and shock her head lightly, wondering what made her thoughts travel that far.

Taki stared at her for a moment, as if suspicious, but then looked away as she crossed her arms over her stomach. "Alright. I guess I should be thankful for Sakura doing that since it would make me less recognizable, I suppose." She added as the thoughts of her bothersome classmates came back. "They can be very annoying at times, as you can obviously tell by now."

"Do they always crowd around you like they did in the library? The day we ran into reach other… literally." Much to her surprise, Sophitia found herself nearly grinning with amusement at the memory. She looked over to Taki to see what her reaction was, only to be too late as Taki was just opening her mouth to speak. However, she did catch get a glimpse of the corners of Taki's mouth curving upward slightly.

"Basically yes, but only after I make a win or break a school record. The 'mobs' only follow me around school, much like this morning with the newspaper club. So don't think that being a sports-lover like me has it easy every day." Taki pointed out as clearly as she could, hoping that Sophitia would understand her a bit better. She apparently did as she seemed to have a smile on her face.

The grin widened on the scholars face as she turned to Taki. "They're _that_ bad, huh?"

Taki noticed a rather cute expression appear on Sophitia's face; it was the kind that Cassandra would give to her when she appeared to suspect the wrong thing between her sister and Taki. She wasn't sure whether the Grecian knew that she was wearing or not as she seemed comfortable showing it to someone who once annoyed her for different reasons. This made her composure relax.

"Oh yeah." Taki waved a hand simply as she smirked. "When I'm in the halls, I feel like I'm in some horror movie just waiting for some admirer to pounce on me, or maybe for a mob to jump out and encircle me with notepads and pens." She exaggerated, but her smile widened as Sophitia's did the same. "I mean, in my anxiousness my eyes just dart from left to right for an exit, thinking in a panicked voice "They're everywhere!"" Her gestures matched her explanation as she tried to be humorous. She grinned as Sophitia laughed next to her.

Taki's eyes seemed to soften as she watched and heard the younger girl laugh; the sound was soft and almost childlike while having a somewhat deep tone. It was almost infectious, but that didn't mean that it would be any less admirable to some, like Taki for example.

The ebony-haired woman's head suddenly bolted upright at what she found herself thinking and doing. She quickly yet discreetly shook it from her mind and focused on the path ahead. Suddenly, her eyes landed on one of her favorite game booths; she was surprised to see it as she didn't remember it in the festival last year. It was an Archery challenge where the rules were no different from their original: hit the bulls-eye.

Sophitia noticed Taki's sudden change of expression and soon became curious. "What's the matter? Did you see one of your bothersome classmates crawling around with cameras in their hands?" She smirked, then grinned as she saw Taki's amused expression slap onto her face.

"No, no." She chuckled slightly. "It's just that my favorite game is here and I have an urge to try it since I haven't done it in a while." Speaking thoughtfully, Taki soon brought her eyes back to the ground as if disregarding the game in a careless fashion.

This made Sophitia quirk and eyebrow. "What's stopping you?"

Taki looked up at her briefly before she turned back to the bows and arrows laying on the booth countertop, a small, diagonal distance from them. She didn't want to do try it because Sophitia hadn't done a thing the festival had to offer yet, but since she was so willing to let her…

Mahogany eyes met emerald as Taki smiled and guided Sophitia to the booth. "Nothing's stopping me." She responded in a tone of confidence as she stood before the keeper in his Matsuri Happi festival coat. Before he could explain the prices for amounts of arrows, Taki already slapped five dollars on the wooden table. "Six arrows, please."

Nodding silently, he slipped away the money from beneath her fingers and gave her the arrows. He stepped to one side as she tested the wooden bows for the best tension. Looking at the distance between her and the target, she guessed that roughly over twenty feet was between them. This not counting the distance to the back wall, which was wooden and had a metal beam going up the center to actually keep the wall stable. As she threaded the first arrow, she could see golden strands of hair two feet away in the corner of her eye. This almost instantly made her nervous. She quickly shook it from her mind as it was ridiculous to her that Sophitia or even anyone at all made her nervous while doing a sport she was very well used to.

Taki pulled back on the bowstring until the butt of the arrow was close to her lips and held it there with three fingers as she aimed the tip. Sophitia watched in silence as did the booth teller. The blonde found it very fascinating to watch Taki do something so seriously; her eyes were focused on the target and her arms didn't tremble as she held the tension of the bowstring. 'With a look like that – so determined and focused – I'm sure Taki won't miss.'

"_T-wang!"… "Th-ock!"_

Sophitia stared blankly at the lodged arrow, '…Maybe not.' She could hardly believe that the arrow was five inches away from the target as it passed by it completely and hit the back wall. Her gaze swept to Taki, who didn't seem be surprised or agitated at all by the outcome. "I'm guessing that was intentional since you seem so calm?"

"It was." Taki replied simply as she threaded the next bow. "I was checking for wind disruptions so that my aim won't be off next time."

"There isn't any wind." 'Is there?' Sophitia's eyebrows furrowed slightly at the after thought.

"There is." Taki pulled back on the bowstring and aimed again. "You just can't feel it."

"_T-wang!"… "Th-unk!" _

Sophitia's eyes widened; she hit the bulls-eye dead center! She blinked her eyes back to Taki, who seemed at least mildly pleased. "Do you think you can do it again?" She urged lightly.

Taki glanced at her then held her gaze for a moment, still holding her smirk but with slightly raised eyebrows aimed at Sophitia's implied challenge. She remained silent as she grabbed the next arrow, threaded it, then pulled back on the string. As she aimed, she held it there for a moment that seemed longer than necessary, as if contemplating something. Slowly, she rotated herself as well as the arrow's aim. This confused Sophitia but before she could even furrow her eyebrows again, Taki released the string. Her eyes snapped wide open again as Taki's arrow hit yet another bulls-eye, however was lodged into the target next to Taki's own.

Sophitia was silent as Taki pulled back and propped an end of the bow onto the floor while leaning her hands onto the other end. Taki's eyes landed onto Sophitia as the younger girl slowly turned to her with a look of surprise in her eyes. "Impressed?" Taki felt a grin try to force its way onto her lips but she tried to hold it back so that she wouldn't seem self-absorbent. Sophitia could only nod slightly as she looked back to both arrows. "Then why don't you try?" Taki suggested as she lifted the bow to the girl who sharply turned to her with stunned surprise.

"…Me?" Knowing how good Taki seemed to be at archery, Sophitia was now scared to death about making a fool of herself if she tried such a thing. "I-I'm not that good."

Taki merely shrugged. "That's okay, at least give it a try. You can use one of my arrows." The taller woman spoke as she pulled Sophitia into her spot and placed the bow into her hands. Sophitia could only stand stiff as Taki walked to where she had originally stood to watch her. Taki crossed her arms as she waited while Sophitia's hand reached for an arrow, threaded it, pulled it back, and aimed. "Nope." Taki suddenly spoke up, making Sophitia inwardly jump as the Asian had broken her concentration.

"What's wrong?" Sophitia asked as she eased the tension on the bowstring then looked down at her bow to see if she could find what she was doing incorrectly.

"Your stance isn't right." With that, Taki walked around her and placed her hands on either side of the blonde's ribcage, straightening her posture. Sophitia jumped slightly as she felt Taki's hands on her but tried her best to hold her composure. Then, her eyes widened to the size of golf balls as she felt one of Taki's warm hands on her inner thigh, pulling it back so that her legs were further apart and perpendicular to the target in front of her. The blonde knew that Taki wasn't trying anything anyway since her hand was closer to the joint of her knee than anywhere else, but still, it was her inner thigh!

"Chose an aquamarine skirt, huh?" Taki spoke up from behind her as her hand left Sophitia's soft thigh and straightened herself up behind the blonde girl.

Sophitia tried to stop the shiver that coursed through her as she felt the silky cotton of Taki's kimono brush softly against her back as Taki rose herself back up behind her. "Y-yes. Why? Is there something wrong with it?" She asked as she turned her head towards Taki's direction.

"No. It looks good on you. Aquamarine doesn't normally suit a lot of people but it seems to suit you really well; it matches your eyes." Taki's last note was in a soft tone, so soft that Sophitia found herself responding only with slightly flustered cheeks.

'Why does she sound like she's trying to charm me?' Sophitia wondered in her nervous state.

The taller woman continued to correct Sophitia's stance until finally she wrapped her fingers around Sophitia's which encircled the bow. "I also noticed that you weren't holding your bowstring the right way." Taki added as she moved her head behind Sophitia's. "You need to hold the string back with one finger above the arrow and two fingers beneath." She moved Sophitia's fingers as she had instructed while the younger girl could only silently follow.

The Grecian chose to pull the string back without Taki's consent as she felt that she needed to be back in control of what she was doing. She felt the older woman hold her elbow to help it from trembling. With one eye, Sophitia aimed at the black dot in the center of the target. "Am I right so far?" She asked cautiously while not wavering her eyes.

"Uhm-hm." Taki nodded as she spoke from behind Sophitia's ear again while having her own darker eyes on the very same target, as if double-checking the blonde girl's aim. "Now, release."

Taki's deep, confident tone and breath in her ear as well as the word 'release' caused Sophitia's whole body to jerk in surprise. In the process, the bowstring slipped out from underneath her fingers, firing the arrow in a completely different direction than she wanted it to due to her sudden jerk.

The arrow flew way passed the target and hit the metal support beam in the back. With a loud, echoing _'Tang!'_ it bounced off the rusty beam and flew upwards in the opposite direction back towards the two, who immediately ducked to avoid it. As it whizzed over their heads, they sharply turned to watch it as it soared towards a rather large, dark metal bell which hung at a corner of a booth's huge sign. The metal tip of the arrow rung the bell as it bounced off of it and went straight across the street again but further into the crowd to hit yet another object which was apparently an oriental bowl. It hit the bowl at the rim, making it fire upwards high into the twilight sky until gravity finally took its toll on it and fell right into the crowd like a torpedo. As the arrow disappeared within it, all that could be heard was a cry of pain from a man's throat.

Now, both Taki and Sophitia's eyes were the size of golf balls as they witnessed that little event in a motionless silence. Until Sophitia finally felt the pressure in her palm from holding onto her bow so tightly during that spectacle, she turned her head sharply towards Taki as she slowly moved her body back to the counter.

"I think I'm done now, thank you." Sophitia stated with a quick breath as she laid the bow back onto the table of the jaw-slacking booth keeper, who obviously had been watching as well.

Taki was silent as her eyes were still locked onto the arrows path through the street. Slowly her eyes softened as Sophitia's words finally registered in her head. "I think you should give it one more try. I'll even help you again if-."

"No!" Sophitia sharply turned to her as if suddenly frightened for reasons Taki did not know. The blonde's expression seemed to hastily soften as her eyes averted back to the bow. "I mean, no thank you. The last attempt was embarrassing enough, so perhaps I'll wait until there aren't dozens of other people around me." She stated firmly as her eyes swept over the crowds that passed them.

Taki could only let out a small sigh before she nodded; she wanted to see how well Sophitia could do in archery despite what she seemed to believe about her skill in athletics, but she guessed it would be best to do it when alone and not fearing if the eyes of others are on you.

Taki was about to open her mouth to ask what the younger girl may want to do next until a rather high-toned shriek broke into her concentration from a small ways behind her on the street. "Ugh! You lecher! Get away from me!" The girl cried nastily, followed by a loud, painful-sounding _'Slap!'_.

Filled with curiosity and concern, Sophitia looked up the street into the moving crowds to see nothing but discoursing people. She looked back to Taki, who seemed more than a little annoyed as she too gazed in the direction same direction Sophitia had looked towards seconds ago. Sophitia quirked an eyebrow slightly, wondering if Taki had become defensive of the small assault.

The blonde girl placed her hands on her hips as she switched her weight to one leg. "You look like you want to kick the accused lecher into orbit." She smirked while Taki's eyes narrowed onto the crowds as if now wanting to try and spot him.

"I'm considering it." Taki sighed heavily as her annoyance grew. She ran a hand through her hair in hopes of trying to sooth her nerves. "Because that lecher is my dear brother."

"Are you sure?" Sophitia glanced back onto the street and sure enough, a boy with spiked hair walked passed a small group of people towards the two of them. With a slightly dazed yet hurting expression as his palm held his reddening cheek, he seemed to hardly notice them as he continued his slow pace passed them.

Taki and Sophitia just watched him in slight confusion as Haitani hardly seemed to notice either of them in his saunter. "Haitani?" Taki called.

"Yeah?" Haitani turned slightly as he heard his name, his eyes widened slightly as he finally acknowledged his sister. "Oh, hi." He waved slightly as he came towards her, his other hand still on his cheek.

Taki gave him a knowingly quirked eyebrow. "Did you say your version of 'Hi' to another girl again?"

Haitani's eyebrows furrowed as if trying to look innocent. "What's so bad about how I say 'Hi'?"

The elder sister sighed as she ran a hand down her face in aggravation. "Haitani, your version of 'Hi' involves a firm pat on the backside and the words: "Hey baby, how you doin'." Don't you think that would set some girls off into hitting you?"

Haitani merely blinked. "No." He just stared at his sister as she rolled her eyes, muttering the words beneath her breath: "Such a moron." The spiked-haired boy's eyes drifted over to Sophitia, who had a neutral to knowing expression on her face as though she wasn't surprised of his behavior. He became tense in her presence, a sight which the Grecian almost smirked at. "H-hi Sophitia." His voice was tentative, as if he was just waiting for her to strike.

"Hello Haitani." Sophitia could already tell that the outcome of what happened in the arcade still had a huge impact on him. From what she could tell from his saunter, he could still feel remnants of pain in his nether-regions. Granted, she did feel a little guilty for doing that but she felt that he had it coming anyway, and what happened just a few moments ago proved her point.

"Where's father and Keiichi?" Taki asked as she looked around him to see if she could find them before he could tell her.

"They're apologizing for me." He stated simply as he walked in between them to lean against an edge of the stand that the two women stood near.

Both girls looked at him incredulously. "Shouldn't _you _be apologizing?" Taki asked as she folded her arms over her stomach.

"I would, but as I find out, girls have the tendency of not listening to apologies because they think that I'm still trying to hit on them, which I'm not. It's as if they think 'once a pervert, always a pervert'!" He answered in an irritated tone until both girls spoke in unison under their breath, using Haitani as an example: "She's right."

"Well, well! Hello there Taki! Nice to see you joining in the festivities!"

Taki inwardly groaned as she recognized the masculine voice that came closer and closer to her. "Hi Mitsurugi." She answered dully, knowing that he was going to tease her about this for as long as she lived. She turned to her side to see him coming towards her with a strange limp despite his wide grin. "What happened to you?" She asked as she noticed a small hole in one of his shoes.

Mitsurugi looked down at his foot and grumbled slightly as he raised his right hand, which clutched a familiar arrow. "I don't know, I was just walking around, minding my own business and suddenly this _thing_ shot down from the sky into my foot! It went through my shoe and gave me a bruise, but it didn't come down fast enough to break the skin at least." He aggravatingly huffed a breath as he turned his eyes from the arrow to Taki, whose eyes were wide as they were locked on the arrow. He waved the arrow a bit to try and bring the tall woman back to reality. "Something the matter there, Taki?" He quirked an eyebrow.

Taki quickly blinked. "Uh-erm…" She glanced towards Sophitia, whose eyes were just as wide as hers and her face was quite pallid. The Asian woman let out a nervous laugh before she snatched the arrow out of his hand. "Of course not. Here, I know where the archery stand is, I give it back to the booth-keeper for you." She insisted, wanting to break the arrow in half, although not as much as Sophitia wanted to.

"Ookay…" Mitsurugi looked at her strangely, noticing Haitani do the same, but both simply shrugged it off. His gaze traveled up and down her body. "Nice kimono." He commented. "Never thought I'd see you wear _that_, being feminine clothing and join the festival at the same time though. I take it your father was a little harder to get passed than you expected?"

Taki's eyes narrowed as he moved to hold the arrow behind her back, answering cockily; "What do you think?" She sneered for a split-second. "Both him _and_ my sister."

"I see." The slightly-bearded man nodded slightly before he moved forward to gently place an arm around her shoulder. "Well I'm glad you came either way. Brings back some fond memories; our first date for example." A smug, sly look appeared on his face, making Taki inwardly sneer even more. His self-confidence could really get to her sometimes, and not in a good way. His arm tightened around her shoulder, pulling her slightly closer. "You remember, right? We did the spring festival a few years ago, and we tried almost every activity booth there was and received a lot of prizes. Then I took you to a movie; Sleepless in Seattle, the romance movie everyone wanted to see at the time. And then I treated you to a candlelight dinner in one of the best places in the city." Mitsurugi shrugged, with another self-applauding look on his face. "It was a pretty good day if I do say so myself." He grinned slightly despite the look Taki was giving him.

Taki sighed then paused before she turned to him with a very quirked eyebrow. "Oh yes, it was great. Except that _wasn't _a date at all." Taki's declaration caused Mitsurugi's grin to abruptly fall. She continued before he could question her. "We were schoolmates and you and I just happened to run into each other and decided to do things out of pure boredom because it was the end of the day." Taki started explaining the day in points: "That 'spring festival'… was the Chinatown fish market." Her lips pressed together as she gave him the cold hard truth.

Mitsurugi looked at her as if he just had a revelation of the truth, although his expression looked as though he was still questionable about Taki's statement. "I-it was?" He asked nervously.

Taki nodded slowly before she continued. "And all those 'activity booths' were fish stands with keepers who became pissed off at you; you tried to show yourself off to me by showing me one of those Tempu-Kosai-Ryu Kai, or whatever martial arts move you learned and accidentally hit the edge of one stand. Soon making it fall over and soon creating a domino effect for the many other fish stands nearby. And the 'prizes' we received were fish and vegetables thrown at us from the venders for knocking over their stands. We had to run for our dear lives to get away from the fish mob." Taki explained calmly although Mitsurugi could see the irritation in her eyes, signaling him to be quiet. (AN: 'Tempu-Kosai Ryu Kai' is Mitsurugi's training/fighting style in the SC series, thought it would be better suited than just saying 'karate' or something like that. A mouthful though isn't it?)

"The movie that we saw was Lethal Weapon 4. Mind you I liked it because it was an action movie and not romance, but you didn't exactly choose the right theater to go to because it was in the middle of a high-crime area. That was proved because after we left, I found out that there was a knife fight near there and a guy ended up being stabbed. And lastly, the 'candlelight dinner' was a pizzeria, ending with you leaving early for some reason and _I _ending up paying the bill." Taki finished with a dangerously-quirked eyebrow, making Mitsurugi just stand there speechless apart from the "…Oh…" he muttered. "So, with that, I end by saying; take it off, or I'll break it off." Finally, Mitsurugi could tell that she was referring to the arm around her shoulder and immediately lifted it off to prevent serious injury upon himself. The slightly older man cleared his throat nervously as he averted his gaze, shifting his eyes from one thing to another aimlessly. In the short but slightly awkward silence between them, Taki finally spoke up as something came to her. "Why did you leave so early anyway?"

Mitsurugi's eyes met hers for a split second before looking away, as if he knew she wasn't going to like the answer. "Um, _ahem_…. Tempu-Kosai-Ryu Kai practice." His voice audibly wavered as he rubbed the back of his head with his hand nervously.

Taki simply nodded as she looked away. "I should've seen that one coming." She commented in a low tone. A bit embarrassed for that little spectacle that Sophitia had to witness, her eyes were about to meet the green ones in front of her when her father could be heard calling out to her as he approached.

Toki's acknowledgement of his second-eldest daughter was pleasant in tone as he strode towards her with Keiichi soon behind, who held a rather neutral expression. Sophitia remained silent as she finally saw Taki's father for the first time; she quickly felt a bit of an underling in his presence as he held a sense of order and tradition around him with the distinctive way he was flawlessly dressed in his finely-detailed robes. His paternal nature could also be seen with the considerate, understanding look in his eyes, which were such a dark shade of brown that they almost looked black. His brown-black beard went long enough to cover the view of his neck with traces of white at the ends. The blonde also noticed that his hairstyle was quite different than what she was used to seeing; he had a relatively small patch of black hair in a small ponytail in the common area where many balding men wished they _did_ have hair.

"Nice to see that you made it here, Taki." Toki commented in a light tone and a hidden smirk, knowing that he may receive a certain reward from his daughter in return.

His smirk grew as Taki gave him a look of slight annoyance as she remembered how adamant he was about not having her come to join the festival. "I didn't have much of a choice in the matter anyway, now did I?" She asked with a cocky look on her face, which again only heightened her father's amusement as he shook his head in return.

Toki's eyes feel onto Mitsurugi, who stood next to Taki in an obedient fashion; he wanted to look as respectable as he could in front of his ex-girlfriend's daughter. The tension Mitsurugi felt increased with each passing second that Toki stared him down. He gave a crooked smile in his nervousness. "H-Hello Toki, sir."

Toki inwardly laughed at the 'sir' Mitsurugi added. Unlike when he first met him, Toki held nothing against Mitsurugi, he wasn't even suspicious of the younger man's intentions with his daughter anymore as he knew that if he _did_ try anything, Taki would surely beat him up more than Mitsurugi could beat up another man. At this point, Toki found it very amusing when Mitsurugi seemed intimidated by him, so he figured, why stop? "Mitsurugi." He greeted with an emotionless tone and expression before his gaze finally landed on Haitani, who stood close to his daughter's ex-boyfriend who was taking the opportunity of wiping the beaded sweat off his forehead.

Toki's eyes narrowed at his son, whose facial expression seemed untroubled but held fear in his eyes. Toki often wondered how Haitani expected to get a girlfriend, even if it was just for their looks, if he kept using the same inexcusable tactics.

With a finger, Toki motioned Haitani to come towards him. "Haitani, would you come here please?" He asked firmly, watching as his youngest son step towards him with his hands behind his back in a somewhat timid fashion.

"Y-yes father." Haitani stopped in front of him, their eyes barely making eye contact. "Now, for what happened back there with that girl I-" _"SMACK!"_ With an "Urk!", Haitani discontinued his sentence as his father's hand whipped out and slapped the back of his spiked-head. He winced as he rubbed the back of his head. Thinking that there would be no use in arguing, Haitani answered obediently. "I apologize father, it'll never happen again." 'Why does everybody, the girl's I '_humbly_' as out, father, Taki from time to time, and even Sophitia, take joy in beating the crap out of me?' The younger boy wondered pitifully as he continued to rub the back of his head.

Taki suddenly piped up as she lightly nudged her father with her elbow. "_Ahem_… Father?" Toki turned towards her to ask what her question was, only to watch her as she gestured towards someone across from her with her head. Toki looked over to find Sophitia standing nearby, simply watching and listening and finding quite a bit of pleasure in doing so; it felt like she was watching a live sit-com.

Toki immediately straightened his posture and took on an amiable expression, not wanting Sophitia to think that he hadn't noticed her or had brushed her off when he came. He gave her a quick slight-bow. At this visible sign of respect, Sophitia was left with a nervous question mark over her head and turned to Taki for help of what she should do in return. With a small wave, Taki simply shook her head as if to tell her not to worry about it.

"Ah, I suggested that Taki would bring you along to see the festival, but I didn't actually think she'd do it; she doesn't usually listen to me." Toki mentioned with a small grin as he raised himself to be level again to meet Sophitia's aventurine eyes. He could feel Taki's glare on his back, which was mostly the cause of the grin he wore. "It's nice to see that you could come along, Miss… um…?"

"Sophitia." The blonde girl answered for him with a smile; he wasn't the first to have troubles remembering her name. She could hear that his English accent hasn't developed quite as much as his children's have after living a few years in America, most likely because he had spent a great majority of his life in Japan and now, being his age, it would be hard to get proper lessons unlike his children who could get theirs via school and tutors.

"Yes, right." Toki responded quickly, keep his smile as he looked around the six of them for the seventh person he was expecting. "Where's Sakura? Didn't she come with you?" He turned to Taki as he asked, praying to the Kami that she made it to Sophitia's apartment and isn't lying in a gutter somewhere.

"Yeah, she came. She and Sophitia's sister, Cassandra, went off on their own. We thought I'd be easier to find you guys that way." Taki answered fully, recognizing the subtly distraught look on her father's face. "The left over half an hour ago, so we should run into them soon." She promised positively. Toki still looked at her with an expression somewhere between worry and disbelief. Taki quirked an eyebrow at this as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Hey, c'mon. It's been over half an hour so they will have most likely gotten bored at their side of the festival by now, so they couldn't have gone into trouble or done too much damage."

"Who got into trouble?"

As if on queue, Taki turned as she heard her sister's voice behind her. Taki's smile of triumph, after having won the debate of the two younger girls coming back or not, abruptly faded while her eyes went wide as she saw both girls holding huge masses of prizes in their arms. Taki sighed. "Nevermind." Her dark eyes darted from one load of prizes to the other, noting that there were many surprisingly good ones at the bottom of their loads. "You two won all of these?" She found herself inwardly amazed and wondered if any other person had gotten this much.

Sakura quirked an eyebrow at her sister. "No, we stole them." She answered sarcastically, making Taki mimic her quirked eyebrow while the word 'smartass' ran through her mind. Sakura shifted slightly. "You know, these are quite heavy, do you think we could take these to the car?" She asked, her trembling arms backing the statement of their weight.

Taki smirked. "Nope, sorry. You'll just have to hold all of that until your arms fall off." She nearly grinned at the sneer she received, knowing that her sister was thinking the same think that Taki had thought seconds ago. "Are you ready to go? You look like you have half the festival in your arms."

Sakura looked down. "Pretty close to that amount. We took a lot of stuff off of one booth keeper's hands." Taki noticed that the two seemed to be hiding a smirk but soon let that pass. "I'm ready whenever you three are." She stated simply, looking at Taki, Cassandra and Sophitia.

Cassandra seemed a little worn to Sophitia, who felt around the same, so she could tell that they were ready. All three knew that Taki just wanted to get out of her blasted kimono, so it was obvious what the outcome was. Taki turned to Sophitia. "Could you take them to the car while I get rid of this…" She brought up the arrow then finished, "Curse." Sophitia merely nodded and waited for the two younger girls to follow.

"It was nice to have met you properly this time." Sophitia spoke to Toki in a respectful tone, which made Toki smile beneath his beard.

"The same to you." He responded simply as he watched her leave with her sister and his daughter. He turned to Taki, who stood next to him and soon patted his shoulder.

"Sorry we couldn't spend as much time together as we did last year, but you know, Sophitia had me all tied up." Taki explained simply as she patted his shoulder a few more times before turning on her heel to leave.

Toki watched her as she departed then smoothed his beard with his hand, which had become a habit for him ever since he first grew it. 'Yes, I know that.' He responded to Taki's statement in his head. 'And I also know that you don't seem to be complaining either.' A smirk slowly grew on his face as he kept his hand stationary at the end of his beard.

8

Taki sped to the archery booth, wanting to get rid of the arrow as fast as possible. And of course the booth was nearly at the farther end of the line of other booths. It was as if she believed that the longer she held it, the more years the curse would be in affect.

After slipping around and between people as if swerving around cars on her motorcycle, she made it to the booth where one other customer stood, trying to hit the center of the target while the keeper leaned against a side wall.

Taki strode up to him and dropped the arrow on the counter with a _'clatter'_. "Sorry about that." She apologized simply before she turned to leave.

"Oh, so you _did_ find it. Good. Thanks." The keeper spoke as he held the arrow in his hand. He eyed it for a moment before turning back to the tall woman. "You can complete your game if you'd like."

Taki stopped and turned to him with a confused eye. "What?"

"Your arrows are still in the target you used. No one else has used it. And I remember the shots that you took so you can continue if you'd like?" The young man suggested calmly while gesturing to the target Taki had used.

Taki quirked an eyebrow. "Why? What would be the point?" She asked bluntly.

The man simply shrugged. "Winning a prize?"

Taki then raised an eyebrow, not in confusion but intrigue; it was as if the thought had completely skipped her mind. Prizes were things that she normally didn't care about, especially not when they were the poorly manufactured ones in fairs. But this time felt different. Her eyes dropped to the arrow. 'Sophitia never got anything the entire time she was here.' At that note, Taki came forward and took the bow from the counter. "Alright, I'll shoot that arrow last." She gestured to the arrow that she had just given back, and the keeper nodded. He placed a second arrow on the counter, since she had asked for five arrows the first time and had played off three.

In what looked like one swift move, Taki grabbed the second arrow, threaded it, pulled back on the bowstring, aimed, then released, only to have the arrow hit the center yet again. She didn't notice the wide-eyed look of surprise on the face of the customer next to her, nor did she really care for that matter. Taki then took the arrow that Sophitia had shot and threaded it. "What do I get if I hit the bulls-eye five times in a row?" She asked out of curiosity as she pulled the string back, waiting for the keeper's response.

"I believe you get this large fan." He reached under the counter and brought out the fan. Taki found that when he said "large" he wasn't kidding; it was probably one-third of his height and its thickness when folded was the length of her thumb. She wasn't too sure whether Sophitia would be interested in that, she wasn't too crazy about it either. However, when he opened it, she found that she highly admired the detailed work of the large, coiled dragon and apple blossom petals. The main colors were royal blue and gold, apart from the white of the apple blossoms.

Taki nodded her approval, signaling the keeper to fold it back up and lay it down. 'The colors uncannily fit her room, so I'm sure she'll like it as much as I do.' Her mahogany eyes dropped to the tip of the arrow and smiled inwardly. 'Sophitia's arrow… I guess I'll fire it for her just this once.' With that, she released the string;

"_T-wang!" "Th-unk!" _

Taki's smile slowly became visible as she swept her eyes to where her arrow hit. Once she found the spot, her smile abruptly switched to a slacked-open jaw accompanied by wide eyes. 'I… I missed! I hit the target but I missed the bulls-eye! And by only a few centimeters!' Taki inwardly growled; now she didn't have anything to give Sophitia in return for her coming with her. 'That _thing_ really _is_ cursed!' She thought accusingly before she turned to the keeper, who had a neutral expression on his face. Taki's eyes became pleading as she leaned over to counter towards him. "C-Come on, you have to admit I was pretty close! Can I still get the fan? It's important! P-plus my arm twitched, throwing my aim off so I deserve that fan!" Taki abruptly stopped as the young man seemed to burst into laughter, soon making her narrow her eyes. "Just _how_ do you find this so comical?"

The keeper tried to gather enough breath so that he could speak. "Calm down! You still get your prize!" He still seemed to continue to chuckle, only making Taki thoroughly confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Getting a bulls-eye is pretty tough, so you can hit near bulls-eye only twice and _still_ get the fan! I responded that you could get it by shooting it five times in a row because you get the same prize either way. So actually, since you hit _near _bulls-eye four times, you can have two of these fans." He explained in a simple, calm tone before noting the wrathful look that rapidly grew in Taki's eyes. She looked like she was about to pounce over the counter, smash his head through the back of one of the targets and use his head for target practice. The young man slowly backed away from the fellow Asian.

"Y-you… t-tell me this… _now_?" Taki looked like she was about to explode, her eyes locked on his through the jet black hair that curtained over the sides of her face. He had gotten her all worked up over nothing? After noting the fearful look in the keeper's eyes, she tried to calm herself, slowly. She pulled back from her leaning position and let out a long exhale, soothing her nerves while running her hands through her hair before tucking the locks back behind her ears.

"Alright, nevermind. I'll take the two then." Taki wasn't sure _why_ she decided to take the second fan at all, but she figured that she might find some good use for it eventually. It was different than the other one and she found that she admired the work done in it as well; it had a crane instead of a dragon and cherry blossoms instead of apple while it contained the colors of white, red and black, all elegantly weaved into the strong material of the fan.

Taki scooped up both fans in her arms then waved slightly at the keeper while not looking back at him, as if she now _knew_ that she'd had enough of this festival. "Arigato." She muttered unconsciously in her first language as she left.

"Not at all." The keeper's voice was still a little tense as he watched her make her way around the crowding people in the middle of the street. "Happy hunting." He finished in a mock-tone as he turned back to his other customer; he was obviously still a little shaken over the woman's hostile mood swings.

8

Sophitia leaned against a booth that was the closest to her car, which both younger girls sat on the bumper of while treating themselves to marveling at their items both won and bought until Sophitia returned with Taki.

The older Grecian glanced at her watch to find that over fifteen minutes had passed since Sophitia and Taki had split up. 'Does it really take a person _this_ long to return an arrow?' She wondered as she impatiently began to tap her fingers rhythmically against the booth's countertop, propping her cheek into her palm, and staring straight out onto the bustling crowd in the streets.

Eventually, the constant tapping began to irritate the female vender, who was selling little glasses of clear-looking drinks to people who were willing to buy one or a few. She stared at the blonde woman for a moment, noting the stressed look on her face. After pondering for a few seconds, the woman poured a little bit of the drink into one of the small glasses then slid it over the counter to the blonde. Sophitia looked at it for a moment, unsure, until she turned to the woman, who's hair was even shorter than her sister's. "Drink it." She spoke simply as she wiped the counter table over once with a rag. "It'll calm your nerves."

Sophitia just blinked at her, then turned her eyes to the full glass. She inwardly shrugged as she wrapped her fingers around the very small glass. 'What could be the harm?' Since the glass was so small, she took all the contents into her mouth. Three seconds later, the disgustingly intense sweetness of the drink finally found her way onto her tongue's taste buds, making her grimace before turning to spit it all out against the painted back wall of the booth.

Sophitia looked back at the glass still in her hand with confusion and disgust before turning to the older woman who had given it to her and was now looking at her as if she was not something of this earth. "What in Hades was that?" The blonde asked as she shook the glass in her hand rather violently.

Before the woman could answer, the slightly taller girl that Sophitia had been waiting for finally came walked up to her, a look of confusion on her face since she had just missed it all. Taki turned to the vender with a quirked eyebrow. "What happened?"

The woman shrugged. "All I gave her was a little Saké to calm her nerves."

Taki's eyes widened slightly, nearly sputtering at the woman's answer. "Saké?" She looked down to Sophitia, who was now looking at the back wall with wide eyes. Curious, Taki leaned over her to find that the wall now had paint coming off of it in all the places that the bitter-sweet liquid had landed from the other girl's lips. Taki nodded knowingly. "Yep, that's Saké. It will soon your nerves but you won't be feeling the same way the next morning, that is if you're not used to it." Sophitia, still shocked that the same liquid that she was about to drink was also a paint remover, couldn't find the words to speak until Taki took her hand and leaded them to the car. "With the amount that I saw on that wall, I could tell that you hardly drank any, so don't worry." She reassured lightly as she continued to lead the other girl.

Both of their minds were taken off the Saké as they heard someone scolding someone else. The looked back into the festival grounds to find that two people, who were totally drenched from head to toe and differed greatly in height, were being chided by an older man that seemed to be around the same age as Toki. Both people hung their heads as the older man continued, their wet, red-ish locks covering the majority of their faces from view.

Sophitia and Taki just discreetly looked at them for a moment. The blonde leaned close to Taki to whisper into her loose black hair, "Glad I don't know those two; it would be a little embarrassing." Taki nodded rather eagerly at Sophitia's comment, feeling the same way.

88

Meanwhile, the masked vender who had held many prized rewards for people young and old who believed that they could attempt to achieve his prizes, now leaned completely over the counter of his booth, whimpering with his wooden arm laying over his head in shame.

"D-damned… teenage cheaters…!" He continued, rubbing the forehead of his horrific mask into the counter. "All my best stuff, even my prized katanas that I'd never thought I'd lose… gone! And by two young girls!" He curled his left, human hand into a tight fist. "I will have my vengeance!"

"Hey! Yoshi! Quit being such a drama queen and get back to managing your station!" One of the aggravated booth keepers near him shouted chidingly.

Yoshimitsu only sneered behind his mask before pushing himself up from the counter to stand straight, muttering curses beneath his mask while he reluctantly continued his job.

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Well? Did you like it? Did it make up for the time it took (and believe me, I'm not happy with the amount of time I had to take either)? Since this chapter was so long, I'd ask you to _not_ hold back in your comments and reviews because I'm open for anything :) I also hope that I didn't ramble too much in these chapters. Since scenes can seem significant to me (try and say _that_ five times fast OO), I tend to put as much detail into it as I can so that my readers can feel the scene's significance, I can sometimes go a little further than I need to in detail, so I hope I didn't pass a limit in this one.

I'll be trying to work on my next chapter of ANE, after having been working on the last few chapters of this fic and the amount of time both took, I've had a lot to think about. I'm not sure when it'll be done though; I've got a lot going on this summer and a few can be a bit time-consuming, but it most _certainly_ shouldn't take the amount of time that this chapter took to complete :)

To Nightmare Alchemist: I hope you felt that this chapter was worth the wait as well, especially for its length :) And yeah, for Taki and Sophitia to be going at each other's throats like that, for me, it makes the soon-to-be romance relationship more significant and special for the characters. And I know that they aren't that way as much in this chapter, but… it's like looking at a Richter scale; the tension can increase then decrease at many different times. Anyway, the reason why I do the age-difference thing is because I don't want people to forget that fact about them; Sophitia is 4 years younger than Taki yet she has gotten into a better school than her via better grades. But I've been trying to not imply biased-like things in these fics, so I've been trying to lighten that for you :) Of course I know I described Yoshimitsu a little cruelly, but I was doing it from Cassandra's POV so I figured that that would be understandable.

And for your suggestion of Negima! I had/have already read it and I love it, but thank you anyway for telling me in case I didn't :) I'm waiting for the next volume to come out now and I have finished Akamatsu's first work; A.I. Love You. It's good but I like Love Hina and Negima! better. For Negima! I like the Love Hina aspects thrown in (as you said) as well as the take-off of the Harry Potter idea with the whole wizardry thing, I also like the fact that all the spells are in Latin then explained by the end of the book and that he explains all the Japanese culture he introduced or implied in different parts of each book to the American readers. (In fact, with the latin thing, I borrowed a spell or two from those books into a chapter of my ANE fic to make it a little better).

To Witch-Hunter 51: Heh, so much for the 'A.S.A.P.' part, right? Sorry for the delay and I hope this made up for the wait. I also hope you liked the more softy-ness brought into this chapter than the last one ;) Hope the Yunsung-Mina thing went alright as well for you and hope you enjoyed :)

To reika45: Reika45, first of all I'd like to _thank_ you for your poking ;) it actually helped in giving me the motivation to complete this chapter. As I've said many times, I hope this chapter made up for the wait. I know I had a few of those 'mismatched' moments in this chapter so I hope you're pleased with those, as well as the feelings I had each imply during certain parts of the chapter ;) I think that Sophie pretending to sleep is what made the ending of the last chapter better, even though I know it's not something that many people accustomed to the SC game could easily see. And I'm glad you liked the bed scene and how portrayed Taki while she's on her motorcycle, I'm particularly please with those two scenes as well even after all the time it took in producing it correctly. For the 'Rothion and Taki living in the same place'-thing, I'll only say that it'll be both interesting and awkward ;) I'm sorry that this update wasn't as quick as many (including myself) would've liked it to have been, but I hope that you enjoyed this chapter enough to have helped make up the time it took to post this :) Enjoy your reviews, as always :)

To mentalretard: It's flattering to know that you like my stories because they're non-sexual shoujo-ai, a lot of people would read rated-r fics just for that purpose but it's rather refreshing to know that you feel that way and still like my fics :) Although it's actually kind of funny how you say that you don't like that stuff yet still like the scene where Taki brings Sophie to bed ;) Anyway, hope u like this 1, worked hard 2 get it done ;)

To Rain54: Ha! Hot moments, yeah, you can even make one at an archery booth, so you found out in this chapter ;) Yeah, I can't have Taki be reckless, I have to have her portray a sense of consideration as well, otherwise Sophitia and Taki (at least in this fic) would hardly every be compatible. And as for Rothion and Taki, it will be… an _interesting_ scene, will have to found out how huh? ;P

To fireinu: Lol, yeah and I'm sure Taki would've liked so have seen the look on the guy's face as well ;) Hope you liked this chapter as well.

To Cococashu: I know I took a long time on this one and I apologize a million times for it, lord knows it drove me insane as well. This one was extra-long so I should hope that that makes up for the wait (again). I hope you liked the scene I had Yunsung and Mina in, it was short, I know, but at least I made sure that it was nothing but humor ;) And for Taki and Sophitia in embarrassing situations, more embarrassing better story :) And for the whole guy-male-bad-mannered thing, that does not at all mean that you are stupid, especially not when you given an explanation for what may have happened or if you apologize for it, I just want to point that out so that you could be assured. I just know a lot of boys in my own school who I'd love to do nothing more than blow them off the face of the earth, so I'm just using them as an example or reference ;P The thought of Taki's nightwear being moist in some areas makes you speechless? Heh, so just _what_ are you _thinking_? ;P I wanted Taki do describe what she was doing because I thought it would be even funnier and better if it came from the character's thoughts instead of the narrator (me). Really glad you liked that bed scene :) The 'love and war' thing I figured as a good point for an ending statement, and it did mean that their relationship was going to be a little more 'involving' for them. Sophitia was asleep on the floor until Taki first picked her up off of it to carry her to bed, so it wasn't like she just laid there that way, waiting for her, that would be too creepy. When I was writing that scene, I was actually wondering whether Sophitia should be asleep the entire time or not, and actually, I'm glad a chose 'not' because it made the scene better. And YES you _do_ have a dirty mind! Sophitia doesn't think _those_ things when she's lonely and looks at Rothion's photo! Geez…

LOL, but anyway, I'm glad to know you were so eager to see what happens next, certainly hope that this chapter fills you in :) And things will get even more serious when Rothion comes into the picture ;) And yes, you were that 'eager reviewer' I was talking about with Witch-Hunter :)

I'm so so sorry that this one took so long, I wasn't intending it to take this long but the end-of-the-year had finally sent a wave over me that I couldn't get my footing on for a month.

And for your version of the ultimate battle between Taki and Mitsurugi, I know, I found the original rather weird, but I saw the Japanese version and that makes more sense than the English version. Also, Taki may have meant "haven't you had enough" in a mocking tone, like when Mitsu told her that he had enough of her, perhaps what Taki meant was "Oh I _bet_ you did" as if she think that he really wants _more _from her. I know it's confusing, but if you really think about it, it may make sense. Either that or they dubbed the English wrong; it's not Taki's fault! It was the stupid producers/translators! ;P Anyway, you don't have to feel that you need to hold back in your next review, and I look forward to it :)

To Lokiador: Hope this chapter was worth your while :) Glad you're enjoying it so far.

To El Loco: I hope the updating of this fic has now soothed your nerves. (Will be getting back to reply to your reply soon ;) by the way) Hope you liked the mess I put Yunsung in this time :) Sorry the x's and y's hurt your head, I'll try and be more gentle next time ;) Glad to see that you're so pleased with my work thus far:) and as for Rothion, it will make the plot much, much thicker so that will only eventually help in making the relationship between Taki and Sophie… well, you'll find out ;P Again so sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

To Demonic Weasel: I hope that this chapter was more to your liking than the last one seemed to be. I added in Yoshimitsu in for you, and I thought he actually fit in well for a minor character. I'm glad to know that you're liking the story overall.

To pfvirgo13: Heh heh, sorry, believe me I wasn't too happy when I knew the time I was taking either, but I've been so damn wrapped up lately in other things, so again, so sorry.

To star shaper: LOL, You were sending me mixed messages there ;) Hope you liked the update and that you're not going to be a monkey ;P

To Majigen: I hope you liked this chapter, I know it's much longer than the other ones, I even had to cut a scene out so that this wouldn't be too long, but that scene will be carried out in the beginning of the next chapter so I hope it works out well. Glad to be getting your reviews :)


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